Usually the Iron Curtain the Cold War barrier created by political, ideological, and military hostility between Western democracies on the one hand and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other, preventing mutual understanding and the exchange of ideas, travel, etc..
Even when I was living behind the Iron Curtain, some popular music seeped through from the West.
any barrier preventing the passage of ideas or understanding, especially an ideological, philosophical, or cultural barrier that divides countries, groups of people, or individuals.
An iron curtain between theoreticians and creative artists prevented either group from appreciating the contributions of the other.
an impenetrable barrier to communication or information imposed by rigid censorship or secrecy.
The incident is a growing embarrassment for the country on the international stage, meaning that an iron curtain must fall on the subject.
Theater. a safety curtain made of iron or other metal.
The expression Iron Curtain was coined by Winston Churchill, who was prime minister of Britain in World War II. Churchill first used the term soon after the war, when the Soviet Union was beginning to carry out its plans for postwar dominance of eastern Europe.
Used in 1946 by Sir Winston Churchill to describe the line of demarcation between Western Europe and the Soviet zone of influence
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They were not designed for a situation in which an iron curtain descends,” he said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2023
“But it still shocked me just how quickly this new informational iron curtain has descended.”
From Washington Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
“As soon as we saw this iron curtain descend again, we thought: What can we do to save ExoMars?”
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 28, 2022
"If there is a new iron curtain, we do not want to be behind it," he said, referring to the Western term for a dividing line between eastern and western Europe during the Cold War.
From Reuters ● Mar. 28, 2022
A twenty-six-year-old pilot stationed at Turner Air Force Base in Georgia, Powers was trained to deliver atomic bombs behind the iron curtain.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
During the Cold War, neutral Austria, which was situated close to the Iron Curtain, was a convenient listening post.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
On the far side of the Iron Curtain, these glorious paintings, like other treasures of Bohemian art, were little known to Western art historians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
During the Cold War, which split Germany in two, large armies on both sides of the Iron Curtain relied heavily on conscription to fill the active ranks and create large military reserves.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025
After all, she was born Melanija Knavs behind the Iron Curtain in what was then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
First, neighboring Hungary opened its border with noncommunist Austria—creating the first open border along the Iron Curtain since the start of the Cold War.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
