variants
also apparatchiki
as in minions
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 apparatchiks
Xi’s brand of resentful nationalism, meanwhile, comes with a strong anti-American streak, and security apparatchiks see CIA spies everywhere.
—
Andy Browne, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
The group ventriloquized the voices of authority—parents, school principals, cops, military officers, judges, politicians, newscasters, Soviet apparatchiks—and turned them into expressions of mass insanity.
—Andrew Katzenstein, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
This agitprop is vomited out 24/7 by Democrat media apparatchiks who were also unerringly described by Orwell in his novel 1984.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
Andy Browne, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026
The group ventriloquized the voices of authority—parents, school principals, cops, military officers, judges, politicians, newscasters, Soviet apparatchiks—and turned them into expressions of mass insanity.
—Andrew Katzenstein, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
This agitprop is vomited out 24/7 by Democrat media apparatchiks who were also unerringly described by Orwell in his novel 1984.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 11 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparatchiks
Noun
-
Your president and his minions spread war, chaos, lies and economic instability.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
There’s a steadiness to Tung/Wonder Woman that stands out for its quiet authority in a frequently goofy landscape peppered with poisonous robes and finger-eating minions.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
That lack of sentimentality persists throughout — through the war wherein the architect gets shipped to the Eastern Front and his wife must find a way to survive an occupation in her house of Soviet soldiers, and right up to the final section.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
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Cabrera carefully handed bags of belongings to soldiers escorting a small group of families returning home to gather their things.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
Critics say event ‘hijacked’ by Christian nationalism Critics say Rededicate 250 is shaping up to promote Christian nationalism — whose adherents typically believe that the United States was founded as and should be a Christian nation.—
Peter Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
Scientology is a religious group shrouded in privacy that has garnered attention for its celebrity adherents, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.—
Joe Kottke,
NBC news,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchiks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchiks. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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