Standard Lemma guide

Yezhovshchina

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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1

noun

Meaning 1

A period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s, particularly from 1937 to 1938.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Great Purge, Great Terror

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ежовщина (ježovščina). Named after Russian secret police official Nikolai Yezhov.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Jeschowschtschina — period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union
  • Polish: jeżowszczyzna — period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union
  • Russian: ежовщина (ježovščina) — period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union
  • Ukrainian: єжовщина (ježovščyna) — period of intense political repression and mass purges in the Soviet Union