gulag

noun

gu·​lag ˈgü-ˌläg How to pronounce gulag (audio)
often capitalized
: the penal system of the Soviet Union consisting of a network of labor camps

Examples of gulag in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
What kind of people approve of a government that extra-judicially kidnaps innocents and renders them into the hands of a foreign gulag—and then hides behind that government when ordered by an American court to bring them back? Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025 One man who was a dissident imprisoned in a Soviet gulag—future Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky—had this to say about hearing of Reagan's description of the Soviet Union as an evil empire. Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025 In the Soviet Union, dissenting biologists were shipped to the gulag. Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2025 That is a memoir by Kang Chol-hwan about the North Korean gulag. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 15 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gulag

Word History

Etymology

Russian, from Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel'notrudovykh lagereĭ chief administration of corrective labor camps

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gulag was in 1974

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gulag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gulag. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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