sputnik
noun
any of a series of Soviet earth-orbiting satellites.
sputnik
American
[spoot-nik, spuht-, spoot-nyik]
/ ˈspʊt nɪk, ˈspʌt-, ˈsput njɪk /
noun
Sputnik
British
/ ˈspʊtnɪk, ˈspʌt- /
noun
Etymology
Origin of sputnik
1957; < Russian spútnik satellite, traveling companion, equivalent to s- together, with + put’ way, route + -nik agent suffix ( cf. -nik)
Vocabulary lists containing sputnik
2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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The Vocabulary of Soviet-Era Nostalgia & Cold War Spy Words
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American History - Middle School
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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:
With his trademark delivery - unhurried and calm - he informed viewers of the first sputnik in space, and delivered the communiqués of the Communist Party.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2021
This guy's not as imposing as a sputnik, but just as many bulbs.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2021
All languages borrow words from other languages — Americans may recognize agitprop, sputnik, babushka or cosmonaut.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2017
Shortly before my eighth birthday, the A-bombing of Japan and then the end of the war became our era’s sputnik in schools, though I was too young to notice.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2012
"There was sputnik, you know," Ross interrupted sourly.
From The Common Man by George Luther Schelling
Seattle’s Century 21 Exposition took place in the shadow of the Cold War, following the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial Earth satellite.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
He also hosts a weekly show on state-run radio station Sputnik.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
A big lesson since Sputnik launched the Space Age is that we are Earthlings to the core.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025
In February, Russian authorities travelled to Ethiopia for the launch of a new editorial centre for Sputnik.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2025
In reality, the United States wasn’t trailing the Soviet Union quite as badly as it appeared in the wake of the Sputnik crisis.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
