Bolshevik
Americannoun
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Bolsheviks,
plural
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Bolsheviki
plural
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(in Russia)
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a member of the more radical majority of the Social Democratic Party, 1903–17, advocating immediate and forceful seizure of power by the proletariat.
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(after 1918) a member of the Russian Communist Party.
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(loosely) a member of any Communist party.
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(often lowercase) a contemptuous term used to refer to an extreme radical or revolutionary.
noun
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(formerly) a Russian Communist Compare Menshevik
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any Communist
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humorous (often not capital) any political radical, esp a revolutionary
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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Bolshevismnoun
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anti-Bolsheviknoun
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non-Bolsheviknoun
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Bolshevistadjective
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Bolshevisticadjective
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pro-Bolshevikadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Bolshevik
1915–20; < Russian bolʾshevík, equivalent to bólʾsh ( iĭ ) larger, greater (comparative of bolʾshóĭ large; compare bolʾshinstvó majority) + -evik, variant of -ovik noun suffix; cf. Menshevik
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Omsk was ultimately captured by the Bolshevik Red Army.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Born in 1927, a decade after the Bolshevik Revolution, his work was steeped in the traditions of classical ballet.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
In the years after Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, many Russian Jews supported and participated in the country that became known as the Soviet Union.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2024
Titled The Snow Forest, the story revolves around a Russian family who escapes early Bolshevik Russia to live in decadeslong seclusion in remote Siberia.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2023
From the ruins, the Bolshevik Party would become the Communist Party, and Lenin would emerge as the head of a new nation with a new form of government.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
It was thought extremely unlikely that he could prove that Clemenceau actually did refuse military aid to the Bolsheviki, although Sadoul averred that documentary evidence existed.
From Time Magazine Archive
M. Kerensky offered to return to Russia and submit to imprisonment if the Bolsheviki would release from prison certain Mensheviki.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Princess Dagmar married Alexander III, becoming Tsarina of All the Russias, gave birth to the last Tsar Nicholas II, escaped the Bolsheviki, and now resides once more at Copenhagen.
From Time Magazine Archive
He at first refused the German terms, but the continued advance of German troops into the heart of Russia eventually forced the Bolsheviki to sign far worse terms of peace.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was considerable discrepancy between this report and others which were issued through various press agencies, though in all the Bolsheviki were the leading party, but they still fell far short of a working majority.
In June 1918 the Bolsheviks nationalized the oil industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
"In history last year we did the Bolsheviks and Nazi Germany, and then you can sort of forget about that and then focus in on what we're doing this year," Ailbhe said.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Leadership values change, but being placed under permanent house arrest by the Bolsheviks at the luxury Hotel Metropol in “A Gentleman in Moscow” doesn’t stop Alexander from dressing the aristocratic part.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
The gold was confiscated after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in 1917.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
When, in 1917, the Bolsheviks gained control of the Russian government, they installed a Communist form of government.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
