nomenklatura

American  

[noh-muhn-klah-toor-uh] / ˌnoʊ mən klɑˈtʊər ə /

noun

plural

nomenklaturas

1. a select list or class of people from which appointees for top-level government positions are drawn, especially from a Communist Party.

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nomenklatura British  

/ ˌnəʊmɛnkləˈtʃuːrə /

noun

1. (formerly, in the USSR and E Europe) a list of individuals drawn up by the Communist Party from which were selected candidates for vacant senior positions in the state, party, and other important organizations

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Etymology

Origin of nomenklatura

First recorded in 1980–85, nomenklatura is from the Russian word nomenklatúra literally, nomenclature

Example Sentences

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a new generation of leaders rose in the former republics, but Belarus remained under old Soviet nomenklatura rule even after independence.

From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2022

Then their lives get consumed by their university love affair and, finally, by Gorbachev’s rise to the top through the ranks of party nomenklatura.

From New York Times • Aug. 30, 2021

There are many versions of nomenklatura chic, but their common purpose is to telegraph “positivity”—rapt support for a man, a brand, a party, or a message.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 21, 2016

The nomenklatura capitalists, whose Vuitton bags and Rolex watches were suspiciously incommensurate with their official salaries, began to patronize native-born designers.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 21, 2016

I cannot conceive of a member of the communist nomenklatura who would not have adopted this formula wholeheartedly.

From The Belgian Curtain Europe after Communism by Vaknin, Samuel