kompromat means compromising material, blackmail material, (real or fabricated) evidence that a person does not want revealed, dirt. It carries an Arena rating of 1462, earned across 52 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, kompromat ranks #201 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #590 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,498 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,926 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
Why “kompromat” is a great word
KOMPROMAT — [Noun] Compromising or incriminating material, whether real or fabricated, used to blackmail or discredit a person, especially a political opponent. Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát), a shortening of компромети́рующий материа́л (komprometírujuščij materiál, “compromising material”), originating as KGB slang in the Stalin era. Unlike blackmail, which names the act of coercion, or dirt, a casual term for scandalous gossip, kompromat denotes the weaponized artifact itself—the coldly amassed, state-sanctioned substance of political destruction. It is the grainy photograph in a locked drawer, the fabricated ledger entry, or the coerced confession on a tinny tape; it is the slow, administrative corrosion of a human life into a tactical liability.
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát), short for компромети́рующий материа́л (komprometírujuščij materiál, “compromising material”). KGB slang from the Stalin era.
noun
- Compromising material, blackmail material, (real or fabricated) evidence that a person does not want revealed, dirt.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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