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
“When it comes to producing, there’s been a real iron curtain — a lot of withholding information, a lack of mentorship and an amount of gatekeeping,” adds Sussman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
“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
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
In the four years since the war began, Russia's digital Iron Curtain has become increasingly hard to bypass.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 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
Their chirps are the sound of the old battle-ax saying goodbye to his homeland before the Iron Curtain slams shut.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 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
At the show’s conclusion the FBI immediately phoned their contact in Moscow to make sure Bobby’s activities were monitored while he was behind the Iron Curtain.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
