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:
It ends 80 years later when his grandson Emanuel, the head of the family business, flees the new Bolshevik regime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The diplomatic whirlwind that has surrounded US President Donald Trump this week suggests the old Bolshevik might have been onto something.
From BBC ● May 16, 2025
Sadly, very few of the multitudes of American “advisors” in Russia since the Bolshevik demise acquainted themselves with even the most basic facts of the country whose destiny they propose to shape.
From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2024
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
She was concerned about the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, too.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
But still, the reception and dinner would be a simple affair, for the Bolsheviki are noted for their Spartan simplicity.
From Time Magazine Archive
When the U. S. S. R. nationalized the Baku oil fields he began to fulminate against the Bolsheviki and later, they charged, to plot.
From Time Magazine Archive
Another famine year increased the distress in Russia, but subsequently the Bolsheviki have gradually consolidated their position under Lenin and his successors.
From Time Magazine Archive
With the probability, amounting almost to a certainty, that Germany will soon join the League of Nations, the Bolsheviki decided that, it was again time to warn Berlin of its folly.
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.
