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 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
Regardless, the new corporate owners of the network, embodied by the late, great Robert Duvall‘s C-suite apparatchik, get on board.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 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
Yet those two factions’ usual disdain for smooth political transitions seemed to wane in February, when Hamas elected a military commander, Yehya Sinwar, to serve as its next leader in Gaza, and the longtime apparatchik Mahmoud al-Aloul became Fatah’s first-ever vice president.
—Grant Rumley, Foreign Affairs, 9 Mar. 2017
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Andrew Katzenstein, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026
Regardless, the new corporate owners of the network, embodied by the late, great Robert Duvall‘s C-suite apparatchik, get on board.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 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
Yet those two factions’ usual disdain for smooth political transitions seemed to wane in February, when Hamas elected a military commander, Yehya Sinwar, to serve as its next leader in Gaza, and the longtime apparatchik Mahmoud al-Aloul became Fatah’s first-ever vice president.
—Grant Rumley, Foreign Affairs, 9 Mar. 2017
See All Example Sentences for apparatchik
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apparatchik
Noun
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Aniello, who directed both bookend episodes, replicates her own long, dynamic shot from the series premiere, which tracks Deborah from the closing joke of her zillionth Vegas set, through a backstage warren of minions and admirers, to her dressing room.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
29 May 2026
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Your president and his minions spread war, chaos, lies and economic instability.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Among those killed in the flurry of strikes were five women and children and a Lebanese soldier.—
Kyla Guilfoil,
NBC news,
29 May 2026
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The Guard’s space was designed to serve about 350 soldiers.—
Elliot Mann,
Twin Cities,
29 May 2026
Noun
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Its adherents promote terrorism and sabotage to incite a race war and to bring about social collapse.—
Odette Yousef,
NPR,
27 May 2026
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And most of today’s Esperanto adherents are neither naïve nor even particularly batty.—
Katie Thornton,
Harpers Magazine,
26 May 2026
Noun
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After Wally springs her from the Shaw's clutches, the group manages to lure the couple and some of their lackeys into the makeshift particle accelerator trap that former engineer Sam built out of old cathode-ray tube TVs.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
21 May 2026
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That means, of course, she’s now been phased out of her role as a factory lackey in dystopian near-future Brazil due to her age.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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