glasnost means 1980s and early 1990s policy of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to allow more government transparency; often paired with perestroika. It carries an Arena rating of 1422, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, glasnost ranks #583 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #1,940 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #6,111 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #6,894 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
Why “glasnost” is a great word
A policy of promoting government transparency and openness, popularized in the mid-1980s by Mikhail Gorbachev. From Russian glasnost ("openness, publicity"), from glasnyi ("public"), ultimately from Old Church Slavonic glasu ("voice"), from Proto-Indo-European *golH-so- ("to call, cry"). Unlike perestroika, which denotes systemic restructuring, or the general English "openness," which lacks this historical gravity, glasnost was the deliberate act of a state allowing its citizens to speak and be heard. It is the sudden appearance of forbidden books in public libraries, the unfamiliar sound of criticism aired on state television, and the specific chill of a winter evening when a crowd gathers to discuss what had been, until yesterday, unspeakable—the voice, after long silence, finding it can still call out, and that someone, improbably, might answer.
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian гла́сность (glásnostʹ, “openness”).
noun
- 1980s and early 1990s policy of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev to allow more government transparency; often paired with perestroika
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- glasnostian 72% match — Relating to glasnost. vs glasnost →
- perestroika 71% match — A program of political and economic reform carried out in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and early 1990s under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. vs glasnost →
- glasnostic 61% match — Relating to glasnost. vs glasnost →
- perestroikan 54% match — A member of the Perestroika Movement (political science). vs glasnost →
- yeltsinism 48% match — the political and economic policies of Boris Yeltsin, after he became the effective ruler of Russia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991; the outward appearance of democracy, while actually concentrating power in a form of authoritarianism vs glasnost →
- antiperestroika 48% match — Opposing perestroika. vs glasnost →
- transparentization 46% match — The process of making or becoming transparent. vs glasnost →
- postcommunism 46% match — The period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in parts of Europe and Asia, in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economies. vs glasnost →