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
In that time, Tucci appeared in a number of films as either a foot soldier, don, or other apparatchik of an underground criminal organization, including Quick Change, Men of Respect, Billy Bathgate, and The Public Eye.
—
Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 19 Mar. 2025
But his theory seemed to mirror the temperament of Deng, who, for all his reformist tendencies, was a ruthless apparatchik.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
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
Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 19 Mar. 2025
But his theory seemed to mirror the temperament of Deng, who, for all his reformist tendencies, was a ruthless apparatchik.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
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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Vex can use that energy to empower herself, or channel it to conjure deadly minions that fight alongside her.—
Griff Griffin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
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Later in the season, Ellie — now trying to hunt down Abby to deliver the same fate to her — brutally kills Nora, one of Abby's minions.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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To maintain tanks’ relevance, Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have covered them in different configurations of armor as ad hoc solutions to rapidly shifting tactics.—
Marco Hernandez,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed soldiers had been sent to the area, per the BBC.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Trump and his hogmen are co-opting actual Nazi lingo from the gutter of the internet, speaking in references only Fox News viewers and Q-Anon adherents can parse, and rehabilitating the r-word as some sort of edgy pose that the rest of us learned was cruel in middle school.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
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After the Great Black Migration in the 1920s, our city was one of the centers of the Ku Klux Klan’s revival as the strongest populist movement of the decade, claiming 5 million adherents, with 50,000 in Chicago alone.—
Jackson Potter,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Its purpose is to maximize the president’s control over our lives, enrich his family, reward his lackeys and punish his critics.—
Steve Chapman,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
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This is about the president of the United States and his complicit lackey Stephen Miller searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities and end elections.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Apparatchik.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apparatchik. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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