Orbanization
noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The process by which a (typically Western) democracy becomes undemocratic as an authoritarian leader takes control of its institutions and degrades the rule of law in order to remain in power. derogatory, slang, uncountable
"The Great Recession after 2008 that hit the east very hard is well discussed. But the authoritarian turn, first in Putin’s Russia and then the “Orbanization” of a large part of the former Soviet Bloc, the so-called Visegrad countries, especially Hungary and Poland and its impact on Europe and the EU, would have required a deep analysis."
Example
More examples"The Great Recession after 2008 that hit the east very hard is well discussed. But the authoritarian turn, first in Putin’s Russia and then the “Orbanization” of a large part of the former Soviet Bloc, the so-called Visegrad countries, especially Hungary and Poland and its impact on Europe and the EU, would have required a deep analysis."
Etymology
From Orban + -ization, after Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary since 2010; possibly punning on urbanization.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.