Prussian

American  

[pruhsh-uhn] / ˈprʌʃ ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Prussia or its inhabitants.

2. characterized by, exemplifying, or resembling Prussianism.

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Prussia.

2. (originally) one of a Lettic people formerly inhabiting territory along and near the coast at the southeastern corner of the Baltic Sea.

3. a Baltic language formerly spoken in Prussia; Old Prussian. Pruss

Prussian British  

/ ˈprʌʃən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Prussia or its people, esp of the Junkers and their formal military tradition

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noun

1. a German native or inhabitant of Prussia

2. a member of a Baltic people formerly inhabiting the coastal area of the SE Baltic

3. See Old Prussian

Other Word Forms

• anti-Prussian adjective
• non-Prussian noun
• pro-Prussian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Prussian

First recorded in 1555–65; Prussi(a) + -an

Example Sentences

Once that happened, the poor pastors—social and theological outsiders in a kingdom that was striving for a unified Prussian church—were doomed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

By 1908, Wilhelm’s attitude toward the U.S. was more benevolent, and he offered President Theodore Roosevelt an elite corps of Prussian soldiers to be posted in California, supposedly to fend off a Japanese invasion.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

Milley’s analysis recalled Prussian Gen. Carl von Clausewitz’s oft-quoted explanation of the moral justification for the use of violence against other states: War is the continuation of politics by other means.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2025

But as Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz put it in the early 1800s: “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2024

Goebbels had promptly remodeled and expanded the house—the hundred-year-old former palace of the marshals of the Prussian court—to make it even grander than it had been.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown