Standard Lemma guide

silovik

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈsiːləvɪk/
  • /ˈsɪləvɪk/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A member of the Russian military, law enforcement, or intelligence services (the KGB or FSB), or a politician with a background in such services.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Russian силови́к (silovík), from си́ла (síla, “force”) + adjective suffix -ов (-ov, “-able/-ible”) + agent suffix -ик (-ik, “-ist, -er”), adjective: силово́й (silovój, “of or related to force”).

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ուժային (užayin) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Belarusian: сілаві́к (silavík) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Bulgarian: силови́к (silovík) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Chinese Mandarin: 西羅維基 /西罗维基 (xīluówéijī) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Chinese Mandarin: 強力部門 /强力部门 (qiánglì bùmén) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Dutch: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Finnish: silovikki — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • French: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • German: Silowik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Hebrew: סילוביקי (silovík) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Japanese: シロヴィキ (shiroviki) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Japanese: シロヴィク (shiroviku) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Korean: 실로비키 (sillobiki) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Korean: 실로비크 (sillobikeu) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Russian: силови́к (silovík) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Serbo-Croatian: силовик — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Serbo-Croatian: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Swedish: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Turkish: silovik — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)
  • Ukrainian: силови́к (sylovýk) — former member of the security services and the military, any power structure (Russia)