Lenin

American  

[len-in, lye-nyin] / ˈlɛn ɪn, ˈljɛ njɪn /

noun

1. V(ladimir) I(lyich) Vladimir Ilyich UlyanovN. Lenin, 1870–1924, Russian revolutionary leader: Soviet premier 1918–24.

---

Lenin British  

/ ˈlɛnɪn /

noun

1. Vladimir Ilyich (vlaˈdimir iljˈjitʃ), original surname Ulyanov. 1870–1924, Russian statesman and Marxist theoretician; first premier of the Soviet Union. He formed the Bolsheviks (1903) and led them in the October Revolution (1917), which established the Soviet Government. He adopted the New Economic Policy (1921) after the Civil War had led to the virtual collapse of the Russian economy, formed the Comintern (1919), and was the originator of the guiding doctrine of the Soviet Union, Marxism-Leninism. After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, many statues of Lenin were demolished

---

Lenin Cultural  

1. A Russian revolutionary leader of the early twentieth century, highly honored in the former Soviet Union as the founder of the modern Soviet state. Lenin, a founder of the Bolshevik party, contributed much to the success of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lenin held that a dedicated group of intellectuals had to spearhead the revolution. He became chief of government of the Soviet Union after the revolution and served until his death in 1924. Joseph Stalin succeeded him. Lenin's real name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov.

---

Compare meaning

How does lenin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Lenin vs. Trotsky

Example Sentences

Krauze joined what was then called the Vladimir Lenin shipyard in 1983, first in a coal-fired boiler room and later operating a crane.

From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026

Vladimir Lenin, by contrast, is looked down upon, not because he murdered millions but because he was “too European.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Lenin declared that “of all the arts the most important for us is the cinema,” and Eisenstein ranked high among the many directors urged to produce propagandist films.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

"Travesties" two years later, imagined a meeting between Lenin, James Joyce and poet and founder of the Dada movement Tristan Tzara, who all lived in Zurich in 1917.

From Barron's • Nov. 29, 2025

Lenin, when he published State and Revolution just two months before the October 1917 revolution, genuinely believed that a communist revolution would lead to the rapid withering away of the state.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton