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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The world premiere on Sunday – in the presence of Illumination boss Chris Meledandri and director Pierre Coffin, who is also the origin of the minions’ unintelligible chatter – kicks off one of the biggest Annecy Film Festival’s yet.
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The two key attractions include the Bello Bay Cruise river rapids ride where yellow minions face off against purple minions and the Bello Bay Golf Cart Derby teacups ride.
Noun
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Mexico sent two Mexican Air Force transport planes carrying 261 personnel, including soldiers, air force members and National Guard troops, Reuters reported.
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National Guard soldiers and airmen will be tasked with crowd control, traffic management and security patrols.
Noun
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But the belief died hard, and photography spurred its adherents on.
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Bridgers is a strict adherent to Attenborough’s Law.
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.
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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.
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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