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Slavophile

American  
[slah-vuh-fahyl, -fil, slav-uh-] / ˈslɑ vəˌfaɪl, -fɪl, ˈslæv ə- /
Also Slavophil

noun

  1. a person who greatly admires the Slavs and Slavic ways.

  2. one of a group of mid-19th century Russian intellectuals who favored traditional cultural practices over Western innovations, especially in political and religious life.


adjective

  1. admiring or favoring the Slavs and Slavic interests, aims, customs, etc.

Slavophile British  
/ ˈslɑːvəʊfɪˌlɪzəm, ˈslɑːvəʊfɪl, -ˌfaɪl, sləˈvɒfɪˌlɪzəm /

noun

  1. a person who admires the Slavs or their cultures

  2. (sometimes not capital) (in 19th-century Russia) a person who believed in the superiority and advocated the supremacy of the Slavs

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. admiring the Slavs and Slavonic culture, etc

  2. (sometimes not capital) (in 19th-century Russia) of, characteristic of, or relating to the Slavophiles

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of Slavophile

1875–80; Slavo- + -phile; compare Russian slavyanofíl

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.

See Examples For:

Yet later in the book, Turgenev informs the Slavophile Dostoyevsky: “You should know that I … consider myself a German, not a Russian, and I’m proud of it!”

From New York Times Oct. 28, 2019

Nikolay Danilevskiy, another prominent Slavophile, disputed that Europe was a continent at all and argued that it should instead be considered just an appendage of Asia.

From Slate Feb. 13, 2017

Even today a powerful Slavophile movement regards Western ways as incompatible with the Russian character.

From Time Magazine Archive

I have been a Slavophile in my time, I used to pester Aksakov with letters, and I was a Ukrainophile, and an archæologist, and a collector of specimens of peasant art.

From The Chorus Girl and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance

He believed in Russia; he had nothing against the Slavophile theory that Russia had a divine mission; only he wished to see that mission divinely performed.

From An Outline of Russian Literature by Baring, Maurice

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