nyet

1. 1
   interjection

   An emphatic no, used in Russian speech or in English to mark a distinctly Russian or hardline refusal.

   "Nyet," the minister replied, ending the negotiation on the spot.

   When the soldiers demanded entry, the old woman simply shouted, "Nyet!"

   Similarno

   Oppositeyes

   Note

   In English prose it mostly lives inside dialogue, a single word that tells the reader the speaker is Russian. Newsweek's 1990 report "A Soviet Bombshell" lets one stand alone before a man walks off into the cold night. It also invites play: John G. Hemry's "The Rift" (2010) has "Nyet problem, Sarge," slotting it into the English phrase "no problem" for a mock-Russian joke.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   A refusal or negative response, especially one given in a Russian or Russian-flavored context.

   The committee's nyet killed the merger before it ever began.

   After months of talks, all they got was another nyet from Moscow.

   Similarveto, refusal, rejection, no

   Oppositeapproval, yes

   Note

   Russian нет (net), the everyday word for "no", has become an English noun. The refusal itself turns into a thing that can be delivered, received or repeated. It grew from the bare interjection and keeps its flavor: a nyet is a no with the weight of a Russian, often official, answer behind it. It is the kind of reply that closes a question rather than opening talks.

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