destalinization means the process, begun by Nikita Khrushchev, of discrediting and then reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
DESTALINIZATION — [Noun] The political and cultural process, notably initiated by Nikita Khrushchev in the Soviet Union, of discrediting the legacy and reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin. From the English prefix de- ("reversal, removal") + the surname Stalin (from Russian Сталин, derived from сталь, "steel") + the suffix -ization ("process of making or becoming"). Unlike liberalization, a broad easing that may leave idols intact, or denazification, the systematic dismantling of a defeated ideology, destalinization is the state's perilous auto-critique, a controlled demolition from within. It is the cranes hauling a ten-ton bronze head from its plinth under cover of night; the hesitant release of prisoners from the gulags; the prisoner stepping into a world that has abruptly forgotten why he was sent there—the profound admission that a nation's foundation was not steel, but terror, and the bewildering silence that follows.
noun
- The process, begun by Nikita Khrushchev, of discrediting and then reforming the policies of Joseph Stalin.