Apparatchiks

Posted by ESC on February 10, 2003

I thought this was an interesting word.

"(Kentucky Governor Patton) said the state was flat broke. But then he promptly put Democratic Party apparatchiks in high-paying state posts." From "Paul Patton is no Colin Powell," Lexington Herald-leader guest column by John David Dyche, February 10, 2003.

Merriam-Webster online www.merriam-webster.com/ cgi-bin/dictionary
Main Entry: ap·pa·rat·chik
Pronunciation: "ä-p&-'rä(t)-chik
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -chiks also ap·pa·rat·chi·ki /-chi-kE/
Etymology: Russian, from apparat
Date: 1941
1 : a member of a Communist apparat (from the organization of a political party or an underground movement)

2 : an official blindly devoted to superiors or to the organization