as in minion
disapproving
a very loyal member of an organization (such as a company or political party) who always obeys orders
party apparatchiks
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Recent Examples of apparatchik
The latest iteration of Venezuela’s long-running crisis began after the head of the National Electoral Council, a Maduro apparatchik, declared him the victor on July 29th, with fifty-one per cent of the vote to forty-four per cent for González.
—
Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is a laconic apparatchik who lacks the imagination to deal with complicated situations.
—Eric Edelman, Foreign Affairs, 2 Jan. 2023
Khamenei will decide which hardline apparatchik appears on the ballot to replace him.
—Karl Vick, TIME, 23 May 2024
There were several oligarchs who helped Putin rise from a K.G.B. apparatchik in Leningrad to autocrat in the Kremlin.
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is a laconic apparatchik who lacks the imagination to deal with complicated situations.
—Eric Edelman, Foreign Affairs, 2 Jan. 2023
Khamenei will decide which hardline apparatchik appears on the ballot to replace him.
—Karl Vick, TIME, 23 May 2024
There were several oligarchs who helped Putin rise from a K.G.B. apparatchik in Leningrad to autocrat in the Kremlin.
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparatchik
Noun
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Donald Trump is desperate to distract his followers from a scandal of his own making, pulling out all the stops to try to get MAGA minions to talk and think about something else — anything else.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
21 July 2025
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Daigo's minions will be making an appearance in Lego Fortnite Odyssey now that the Spires are activated, so players will have to watch out for that while working on their villages.—
Oliver Brandt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 July 2025
Noun
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What may have been a Roman soldier's monthly paycheck has emerged from under the ground, officials announced this month.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
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An action-adventure flick directed by J.C. Chandor for Netflix, Triple Frontier follows a group of former special-ops soldiers who — feeling financially undervalued for their years spent in military service — decide to get what's rightfully theirs by robbing a drug lord.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
31 July 2025
Noun
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In 2018, a San Diego Superior Court civil jury awarded one of his former adherents — a cancer patient who has since died — a $105 million verdict against him, although an appeals court later knocked the award down to a fraction of that amount.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 May 2025
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Outlawing both not only sparks a political crisis, but could also serve to radicalize adherents who feel they are left with no political home.—
Taylor Luck,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Outside of one good scene between Clark and Lois, almost every frame is constantly packed with characters, whether this is the (admittedly very funny) Justice Gang (Nathan Fillion’s Green Lantern, Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl and Edi Gathegi’s scene-stealing Mister Terrific) or Lex and his lackeys.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
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Where Supes clocks an evil lackey straight in the jaw so hard that his teeth hit the camera lens?—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
8 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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