Word.ws English Dictionary

kontraktnik

kontraktnik noun: a voluntary professional soldier of Russia under contract (not a conscript soldier).

Noun

kontraktnik (plural kontraktniks or kontraktniki)

  1. A voluntary professional soldier of Russia under contract (not a conscript soldier).
    • The kontraktniki, some with criminal backgrounds, others veterans of police and military units, are among the most feared of Russian forces, and the ones most often alleged to have committed atrocities.2000 February 28, Olivia Ward, “Nightmare of Russian violence reported by Chechens”, in The Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton, Ont., →ISSN, →OCLC, page F10, column 5
    • Shortly after, I was saved by women when kontraktniki were about to shoot me.2015, Arne Peter Braaksma, “Khassan Baiev, Chechnya: Operating on friends and enemies while under fire”, in Human Dignity: Eleven Defenders of Human Rights at Close Range, The Hague: PixelPerfect...

Examples of kontraktnik in a sentence

  • There is a lot of concern about conscripts being strong-armed in to signing contracts, becoming kontraktniki.2022 August 6, “Sturgeon Twitter spat that recycled a myth about Putin’s war on Ukraine”, in The Herald on Saturday, 240th year, number...
  • The SV manning goal is a total of 350,000 officers, noncommissioned officers (warrant officers), kontraktniki, and conscript soldiers.2024, United States Department of the Army, “Russian Military Overview”, in Russian Tactics (Army Techniques Publication, No. 7-100.1...

Forms of kontraktnik

pluralkontraktniks
pluralkontraktniki
alternative formcontractnik
alternative formcontraktnik

Origin of kontraktnik

From Russian контра́ктник (kontráktnik, literally “contractor, contractee”), from контракт (kontrakt, “contract”) + -ник (-nik, “profession, performer”).

Questions about kontraktnik

What does kontraktnik mean?
Kontraktnik means a voluntary professional soldier of Russia under contract (not a conscript soldier).
How do you use kontraktnik in a sentence?
There is a lot of concern about conscripts being strong-armed in to signing contracts, becoming kontraktniki.
What part of speech is kontraktnik?
Kontraktnik is a noun.
What is the plural of kontraktnik?
The plural of kontraktnik is kontraktniks.

Words near kontraktnik in the dictionary

  1. kontomires
  2. kontor
  3. kontore
  4. kontors
  5. kontra
  6. kontraktnik
  7. kontraktniki
  8. kontraktniks
  9. kontras
  10. kontusz
  11. kontuszes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kontraktnik (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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