glasnost

[glaz-nost, glahz‐; Russian glahs-nuh st]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR glasnost ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.

Origin of glasnost

First recorded in 1980–85, glasnost is from the Russian word glásnost' literally, publicity (taken to mean openness)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for glasnost

simplicity, honesty, truthfulness, probity, sincerity, fairness, frankness, directness, veracity, impartiality, uprightness, openness, ingenuousness, straightforwardness, guilelessness

Examples from the Web for glasnost

Contemporary Examples of glasnost

Of course, in Russia at that time you had just the beginning of Gorbachev, and glasnost and perestroika.
How The Cold War Endgame Played Out In The Rubble Of The Berlin Wall
William O’Connor
November 9, 2014
Still more excitingly for Cohen, glasnost included a Bukharin revival, with major support from Gorbachev himself.
Meet Stephen F. Cohen, Vladimir Putin's Best Friend in the American Media
Cathy Young
March 16, 2014
Perestroika and glasnost may have come and gone, but the hair has remained the same.
Russian Politicians Flaunt '80s Style At The Kremlin
Anna Nemtsova
October 16, 2012

British Dictionary definitions for glasnost

glasnost

noun

the policy of public frankness and accountability developed in the former Soviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail gorbachev

Word Origin for glasnost

C20: Russian, literally: openness

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for glasnost

1972 (in reference to a letter of 1969 by Solzhenitsyn), from Russian glasnost "openness to public scrutiny," literally "publicity, fact of being public," ultimately from Old Church Slavonic glasu "voice" (see call). First used in a socio-political sense by Lenin; popularized in English after Mikhail Gorbachev used it prominently in a speech of March 11, 1985, accepting the post of general secretary of the CPSU.

The Soviets, it seems, have rediscovered the value of Lenin's dictum that "glasnost," the Russian word for openness or publicity, is a desirable form of conduct. [New York Times news service article, March 1981]

glasnost in Culture

glasnost

[(glahs-nuhst, glas-nost, glaz-nost)]

A Russian word meaning “openness,” which describes the policy of Mikhail Gorbachev, premier of the former Soviet Union. The term refers to a general loosening of government control on all aspects of life in the Soviet Union, even to the point of permitting criticism of government policies.