apparatchik

n., pl., -tchiks, or -tchi·ki (-chĭ-kē).

1. A member of a Communist apparat.
2. An unquestioningly loyal subordinate, especially of a political leader or organization.

[Russian, from apparat, apparat. See apparat.]

(uh-pah-RAH-chik)

noun
Member of the (Soviet) bureaucracy; now extended to apply to any inflexible organisation man, particularly in a political party.

Etymology
From Russian apparat (apparatus, the government machine or structure) + chik (agent)

Like other terms deriving from the USSR such as nomenklatura (list of important positions to be filled by people from the party), apparatchik is always used pejoratively. It suggests a bureaucrat who willingly follows and implements the party line, either in a spirit of blind obedience or one of cynical ambition. As an insult for a person sitting in an office, it's stronger and more exotic than "suit" or "jobsworth".
(Philip Gooden is a writer and editor, who produces historical whodunnits and writes reference books on the English language. He is the author of "Who's Whose?", "Faux Pas?" and the forthcoming "Name Dropping?". He lives in Bath, England.)

Usage
"When we meet Ian McKellen's grey-haired Paul, he's sitting with a grey face in a grey suit behind a grey-looking desk and sounding like the grey apparatchik he obviously is." — Benedict Nightingale; The Cut; The Times (London, UK); Mar 2, 2006.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - apparatjik, medlem af det kommunistiske apparat, partipamper

Nederlands (Dutch)
apparatsjik (lid van Communistisch apparaat), ijverige politicus

Français (French)
n. - apparatchik

Deutsch (German)
n. - Apparatschik, (Mitglied des kommunistischen Apparats)

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιστ.) μέλος ή χαφιές του Σοβιετικού Κομουνιστικού Κόμματος, μέλος του κομματικού μηχανισμού

Italiano (Italian)
burocrate

Português (Portuguese)
n. - membro (m) (f) de um aparelho comunista, oficial (m) (f) devotado cegamente aos seus superiores, membro ativo (m) de um partido político

Русский (Russian)
аппаратчик

Español (Spanish)
n. - miembro del "aparato" comunista

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - byråkrat, partipamp

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
共产党组织的官员

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 共產黨組織的官員

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 공산당 스파이

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 機関員

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עובד מנגנון של מפלגה קומוניסטית (מיושן), סוכן או מרגל קומוניסטי, אפארצ'יק, עסקן פוליטי נלהב, איש-מנגנון של ארגון פרטי או ציבורי‬

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