Russian

/ˈɹʌʃ(ə)n/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/ˈɹʊʃ(ə)n/

Russian adjective: of or pertaining to Russia or Russians.

Adjective (1)

Russian (comparative more Russian, superlative most Russian)

Of or pertaining to Russia or Russians.
- The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, volume 91...
- So that is the official line: you’re shit, we’re shit, everything’s shit, never try for a better world because it doesn’t exist. That is not only bleak, I think it’s also the working title of every Russian novel ever written.2017 February 19, “Putin”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 2, John Oliver (actor), via HBO
Synonyms:

Muscovite, Rossiyan, Russ
(dated) Of or pertaining to the Soviet Union.

Synonyms:

Soviet
(dated) Of or pertaining to Rus.
Of or pertaining to the Russian language.

Noun (1)

Russian (countable and uncountable, plural Russians)

(countable) A native or inhabitant of Russia.
- A grim smile plays about Tarzan’s lips. At least Rokoff will be cheated. How mad he will be! And death will be more merciful than he could have hoped for at the hands of the Russian.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 85
- But be that as it may: the Great Russian chauvinist Voznesenskii knew exactly how best to touch upon the asiaphobic nerve of his fellow-countrymen, how to stimulate the deep-rooted irrational fears of the Russians of peril looming from Asia, and how to turn those fears against China.1983, Peace and Security in the Atlantic and Pacific Regions, page 69
Synonyms:

Muscovite, Rossiyan, Russ
(countable) A person of an East Slavic ethnic group which is native to, and constitutes the majority of the population of, Russia; an ethnic Russian.
(countable, obsolete) A person from the Soviet Union.
(uncountable) The Russian language.
- The “little green men”—faces covered, wearing unmarked olive uniforms, speaking Russian and using Russian weapons—have played a significant role in both the occupation of Crimea and the civil war in eastern Ukraine.¹⁹⁶2015, Shane R. Reeves, David Wallace, “The Combatant Status of the “Little Green Men” and Other Participants in the Ukraine Conflict”, in International Law Studies, US Naval War College, volume 91...
Synonyms:

Russ
A domestic cat breed.
A cat of this breed.
(rare, singular) A type of juggling ball with a hard outer shell, filled with salt, sand or another similar substance.
- Ok, I do think I am starting to get used to it, but you have to admit, if youve^([sic]) been juggling bags and then start juggling Russians, they feel sooo lopsided to juggle at first!2011, jamescoutry24, “Beanbags > Russian”, in rec.juggling (Usenet)
(Multicultural-London-English, slang) Someone from or around Brandon Estate (also known as Moscow).
(Multicultural-London-English, slang) A gun (due to some preference for Russian arms with gang members).
(South Africa) A kind of sausage derived from Russian kolbasa.

Proper noun

Russian

A surname.

Verb

Russian (third-person singular simple present Russians, present participle Russianing, simple past and past participle Russianed)

(obsolete, transitive) To compel or force someone as a result of Russian influence or pressure.

Adjective (2) capitalized: RuSSian

RuSSian

(derogatory, humorous, offensive, slang) Russian.

Noun (2) capitalized: RuSSian

RuSSian (plural RuSSians)

(derogatory, humorous, offensive, slang) A Russian person.

Russian meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

Russian in Hindi

of or pertaining to Russia: रूसी rūsī, रशियन raśiyan
of or pertaining to the Russian language: रूसी rūsī
native or inhabitant of Russia: रूसी rūsī
ethnic Russian: रूसी rūsī

Russian in Tamil

Russian (language): ருஸ்சியன் rusciyaṉ

Russian in Marathi

of or pertaining to Russia: रशियन raśiyan
of or pertaining to the Russian language: रशियन raśiyan
native or inhabitant of Russia: रशियन raśiyan
ethnic Russian: रशियन raśiyan

Russian in Urdu

of or pertaining to Russia: رُوسی rūsī
of or pertaining to the Russian language: رُوسِی rūsī
native or inhabitant of Russia: رُوسی rūsī
ethnic Russian: رُوسی rūsī

More languagesFewer languages

Russian in Bengali: রুশ ruś, ভাষা রুশ bhaśa ruś, রাশান raśan, রাশিয়ান raśiẏan
Russian in Telugu: రష్యను raṣyanu
Russian in Malayalam: റഷ്യന് ṟaṣyanŭ
Russian in Kannada: ರಶ್ಯನ್ raśyan
Russian in Gujarati: રશિયન raśiyan
Russian in Sanskrit: भाषा रूसी bhāṣā rūsī
Russian in Sinhala: රුසියානු rusiyānu, භාෂාව රුසියාන bhāṣāwa rusiyāna
Russian in Assamese: ৰুছ rus
Russian in Nepali: रसियाली rasiyālī
Russian in Pashto: روسي rusi, روس rus, روسی rūsī
Russian in Tagalog: Ruso
Russian in Arabic: رُوسِيّ rūsiyy, رُوسِيَّة rūsiyya, الرُّوسِيَّة ar-rūsiyya, اللُّغَة الرُّوسِيَّة al-luḡa r-rūsiyya
Russian in Malay: Rusia, orang Rusia, bahasa Rusia
Russian in Indonesian: Rusia, orang Rusia, bahasa Rusia
Russian in Persian: روسی rusi, روس rus, زَبانِ روسی zabân-e rusi
Russian in Thai: รัสเซีย rát-siia, คนรัสเซีย kon rát-siia, ชาวรัสเซีย chaao rát-siia, ภาษารัสเซีย paa-sǎa rát-siia
Russian in Vietnamese: nga, Nga, người Nga, tiếng Nga
Russian in Myanmar: ရုရှား ru.hra:, ရုရှားစကား ru.hra:ca.ka:, ရုရှားဘာသာ ru.hra:bhasa

Synonyms of Russian

Forms of Russian

Adjective
comparative	more Russian
superlative	most Russian
alternative form	Ru.
Noun
plural	Russians
plural	RuSSians
Verb
third-person singular present	Russians
present participle	Russianing
past participle	Russianed
past	Russianed

Origin of Russian

From Medieval Latin (11th century) Russiānus, from Russia, a Latinization of the Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ)) + -ānus (“of or pertaining to”). Attested in English (both as a noun and as an adjective) from the 16th century. By surface analysis, Russia + -an. Piecewise doublet of Rossiyan.

Blend of Russian + SS (“Schutzstaffel”), implying that the Russian character is fascistic. Compare with Russian руSSкий (ruSSkij).

Words formed from Russian

Phrases with Russian

112 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with Russian

Questions about Russian

What does Russian mean?: Russian means of or pertaining to Russia or Russians.
What is Russian in Hindi?: Russian in Hindi is रूसी (rūsī), रशियन (raśiyan), भाषा रूसी (bhāṣā rūsī). See Russian meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is Russian?: Russian can be an adjective, a noun, a proper noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce Russian?: Russian is pronounced /ˈɹʌʃ(ə)n/ (UK).

Words near Russian in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: Russian (page history and authors); RuSSian (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-Russian.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Russian.wav.

Cite this entry: “Russian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/russian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.