lishenets · noun — A person deprived of the right to vote in the Soviet Union of 1918–1936, having been classed as an enemy of the working people. It carries an Arena rating of 1180, earned across 84 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, lishenets ranks #176 of 17,156 for Most Exacting Words, #321 of 17,142 for Scariest Words, #603 of 17,149 for Most Incisive Words, #2,118 of 17,114 for Most Storied Words.
Why “lishenets” is a great word
LISHENETS — [Noun] A person in the early Soviet Union (1918–1936) who was legally deprived of the right to vote for being classed as an enemy of the working people. Borrowed from Russian лише́нец (lišénec), from лишение (lišénije, "deprivation"). Unlike "kulak," which specifically denotes a wealthy peasant considered exploitative, or the general term "disenfranchised," which implies merely the loss of a vote, *lishenets* names a precise category of civic death, a bureaucratic brand of excommunication. It is the ominous knock concluding a class background check, the blank space on a ration card, and the neighbor's averted gaze on a frozen street—the cold machinery of ideology reducing a human to a legal non-person.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from Russian лише́нец (lišénec).
noun
- A person deprived of the right to vote in the Soviet Union of 1918–1936, having been classed as an enemy of the working people.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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