What does "dedovshchina" mean?

Hazing, the informal system of subjection and physical or sexual abuse of new junior conscripts, formerly in the Soviet Armed Forces and contemporarily in the Russian, Ukrainian, etc. armed forces.

What is a synonym for "dedovshchina"?

Common synonyms include: grandfatherism.

How do you pronounce "dedovshchina"?

Pronounced //dɪdəvˈʃːinə//.

Dedovshchina

//dɪdəvˈʃːinə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
Hazing, the informal system of subjection and physical or sexual abuse of new junior conscripts, formerly in the Soviet Armed Forces and contemporarily in the Russian, Ukrainian, etc. armed forces. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

grandfatherism

Etymology

From Russian дедовщи́на (dedovščína), literally “reign of old-timers”.

Related phrases

armed forces

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.