Bolshevism
Americannoun
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the doctrines, methods, or procedure of the Bolsheviks.
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(sometimes lowercase) the principles or practices of ultraradical socialists or political ultraradicals generally.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Bolshevism
First recorded in 1915–20; Bolshev(ik) + -ism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Or that Winston Churchill—who in 1919 said Bolshevism should be strangled in its cradle—became Stalin’s puppet 22 years later?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
But Bolshevism on Trial is the movie that the Jennings Daily Times-Record of Jennings, Louisiana famously proclaimed “the timeliest picture ever screened” on June 3, 1919!
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2020
Xenophobia was further exacerbated by the Russian Revolution and the manufactured threat of Bolshevism, or the “Red Menace.”
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2017
Just as many of the Nazis they were dealing with saw the Cold War as part two of their own epic crusade against Bolshevism.
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2015
The modern doctrine is called by various names: Socialism, Communism, Anarchism, Bolshevism, Syndicalism, Collectivism.
From The Book of Life by Sinclair, Upton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
