Ivan the Terrible

Cultural  

1. A Russian czar of the sixteenth century. Ivan struggled constantly with the nobles of Russia and became famous for his brutality toward his enemies.

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Example Sentences

In 2017, Mr. Mian writes, Mr. Putin “commissioned a statue of Ivan the Terrible in central Moscow. It immediately became a pilgrimage destination.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Grigorovich's productions of the Stone Flower, Ivan the Terrible and Romeo and Juliet redefined Soviet ballet.

From BBC • May 20, 2025

According to legend, Ivan the Terrible blinded architect Postnik Yakovlev so that the latter could never re-create which building that stands in Red Square?

From Slate • Aug. 30, 2023

They include his description of Ivan the Terrible, whose rule conventional histories divide between a dynamic first half and descent into madness following the death of his beloved first wife, Anastasia Romanova.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2022

He had little interest, though, in such figures as Ivan the Terrible or Peter the Great or Joseph Stalin or Leo Tolstoy or Alexander Pushkin.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady