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soviet

Soviet adjective · Soviet noun · noun · adjective
SaySOH-vee-uht/ˈsoʊvi.ət/UK/ˈsəʊvi.ət/

Noun pluralsoviets, Soviets

5 meanings of soviet

Practice

  1. 1
    of the USSRadjective · Soviethistorical
    Relating to the Soviet Union or to the republics that made it up.

    Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989.

    Later, in the 1980s, western scholars found that, notwithstanding the substantial Soviet military buildup near the Chinese borders in the late 1960s, it was Beijing that initiated the clash on Zhenbao (Damanski) Island.
    2005, Vitaly Kozyrev, “Soviet Policy Toward the United States and China, 1969-1979”

    UsageUsually written with a capital S: Soviet troops, the Soviet Union. Lowercase soviet most often means a workers' council.

    Note

    Here the word names a vanished state rather than a council: the Union, its republics and their armies, policies and leaders. Things it left behind keep the word, as in an old Soviet passport.

  2. 2
    noun · Sovietcountable
    A person holding citizenship of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

    He was the first Soviet the young journalist had ever interviewed.

    Tens of millions of Soviets died in the Second World War.

    UsageWritten with a capital S and most often plural: ordinary Soviets. For one person, a Soviet citizen is more usual than a Soviet.

  3. 3
    a councilnounhistoricalcountable
    A workers' council, born in Russia's 1905 revolution and later the main form of communist government at all levels of the Soviet Union; also similar bodies elsewhere, as in early Chinese communism.

    During the 1905 revolution, striking workers in St. Petersburg formed a soviet to coordinate their demands.

    Kratochvil, Jedlicka, Safar, Kubes and Vasata, who always took an interest in politics, set up a soviet in the last wagon and uncoupled it from the rest of the train in the night.
    2005, James Meek, The People's Act of Love

    Similarcouncil

    Note

    Russian sovét means simply “council”, and its Old Church Slavonic ancestor meant “advice”, built on a root for “agreement”. In English the word stays tied to revolutionary history: workers' committees form embryo soviets, organizers set up rural soviets, and a party committee can be turned into a soviet government.

    Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Russian sovét means “council”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Russian word derives through Old Russian from an Old Church Slavonic word meaning “advice”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Old Church Slavonic word contains an element meaning “agreement”. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    pro-USSRadjective · Soviet
    Supporting the Soviet Union and Sovietism, or representing their values and outlook.

    The young officer tried to seem more Soviet than his commanders, quoting Lenin at every meeting.

    Decades after the collapse, the old general remained thoroughly Soviet in his habits and loyalties.

    UsageThis meaning can be graded: more Soviet than someone, thoroughly Soviet.

    Note

    Loyalty comes in degrees, so this is the meaning that takes more and most: a son can stay more Soviet than his parents, and in Robert G. Moeller's War Stories (2001) East Germans try to be “more Soviet than the Soviets”. The noun for the outlook is Sovietism, and the rare Sovietic is a synonym.

    Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Robert G. Moeller wrote War Stories, published in 2001. faculty.uci.edu
    • Moeller describes East Germans attempting to be “more Soviet than the Soviets”. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 5
    run by councilsadjective
    Relating to or resembling a workers' council, or soviet.

    Anarchists and socialists argued over whether soviet democracy could survive without a party in charge.

    In 1919 revolutionaries in Munich proclaimed a short-lived soviet republic.

    UsageUsually lowercase, as in soviet democracy or a soviet republic; capital Soviet most often means the Soviet Union.

    Note

    The capitalized adjective usually points instead to one state, the Soviet Union, but letter case is not a sure guide: writers also lowercase that sense, and short-lived council states in Hungary and Bavaria were called Soviet republics too. The rare sovietic means the same as this lowercase sense.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of soviet apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2, 4

From Russian сове́т (sovét).

Meanings 3, 5

Borrowed from Russian sovét ("council"), from Old Church Slavonic sŭvětŭ ("advice"), formed from the prefix sŭ- + větŭ ("agreement").

Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  • English soviet was borrowed from Russian sovét, meaning council. en.wiktionary.org
  • Russian sovét derives from Old Church Slavonic sŭvětŭ, meaning advice. en.wiktionary.org
  • Sŭvětŭ combines the prefix sŭ- and větŭ, meaning agreement. en.wiktionary.org