Catherine the Great

Cultural  

1. An empress of Russia in the late eighteenth century who encouraged the cultural influences of western Europe in Russia and extended Russian territory toward the Black Sea. She is also known for her amorous intrigues, including affairs with members of her government.

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Example Sentences

An old Kremlin joke about Vladimir Putin is that the Russian president has only three trusted advisers: Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025

Crimea was first annexed by Tsarist Russia under Catherine the Great in 1783 and largely remained part of Russia until Khrushchev's decision.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2025

If he sees the term through to its end, he will become the longest-serving Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 1700s.

From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2024

Yet for more than 200 years, Russia’s governance had been autocratic and every ruler from Catherine the Great to Leonid Brezhnev had achieved domestic stability through incessant foreign expansion.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2024

One lady thus "supplied" a princess of Anhalt, is known as "Catherine the Great."

From The Prussian Terror by Dumas, Alexandre