glasnost
[glaz-nost, glahz‐; Russian glahs-nuh st]
- the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.
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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. 2018
Related Words
simplicity, honesty, truthfulness, probity, sincerity, fairness, frankness, directness, veracity, impartiality, uprightness, openness, glasnost, ingenuousness, straightforwardness, guilelessnessExamples from the Web for glasnost
Contemporary Examples
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 WallWilliam O’Connor
November 9, 2014
Still more excitingly for Cohen, glasnost included a Bukharin revival, with major support from Gorbachev himself.
Perestroika and glasnost may have come and gone, but the hair has remained the same.
glasnost
- the policy of public frankness and accountability developed in the former Soviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail gorbachev
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Word Origin
C20: Russian, literally: openness
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for glasnost
n.
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]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.