Nomenklatura
noun ·5 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A list of bureaucratic posts in government and industry in the former Soviet Union and other communist countries, filled by those appointed by the Party.
- 2 the system of patronage in communist countries; controlled by committees in the Communist Party wordnet
- 3 The people on such lists; (by extension), any privileged class, a social or political elite. collective
"[Gorbachev] did not champion perestroika and glasnost alone; much of the nomenklatura had decided that the Soviet economic and social model was dysfunctional, corrupt and endemically inefficient and had to change."
Example
More examples"[Gorbachev] did not champion perestroika and glasnost alone; much of the nomenklatura had decided that the Soviet economic and social model was dysfunctional, corrupt and endemically inefficient and had to change."
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian номенклату́ра (nomenklatúra), from Latin nōmenclātūra (“a calling by name, list of names”), from nomen (“name”) + calare (“call”). Doublet of nomenclature.
Related phrases
More for "nomenklatura"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.