sputnik
Syllables: sput·nik/ˈspʊtnɪk/
sputnik noun: any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
Noun (1)
sputnik (plural sputniks)
- Any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
- Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon. The science wasn't even there yet. NASA didn't exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets...2011 January 5, Barack Obama; Jon Favreau, speechwriter, “Remarks by the President in State of Union Address”, in White House Office of the Press Secretary, WhiteHouse.gov, archived from the original...
- Any artificial satellite.
- BEFORE school rocketed into his tiny world with about as much warning as a sputnik, my son knew only little hates.1957 November 14, Sputnik [pseudonym], “My Son Hates School”, in Daily Record, number 19,357, Glasgow: Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 2
- With this program, we could bring water to the Middle East. We could rebuild some of our sagging esteem in that part of the world; we could insure that in this area at least we would have our sputniks abreast the Russians', and we could do our own economy a priceless good turn.1958, Clinton P. Anderson, statement on the Senate floor, quoted in, Legislative history: Saline water conversion act, page 783
- The currency sign ¤.
Noun (2) capitalized: Sputnik
Sputnik (plural Sputniks)
- An adenovirus viral vector vaccine for COVID-19, developed in Russia.
- For the record, Stone has been quadruple-vaxxed against covid-19: “Two Sputniks and two Pfizers,” he says proudly.2021 December 22, Ann Hornaday, “‘JFK’ at 30: Oliver Stone and the lasting impact of America’s most dangerous movie”, in The Washington Post
- Synonyms:
- Sputnik V
- Alternative letter-case form of sputnik.
Proper noun capitalized: Sputnik
Sputnik
sputnik meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
sputnik in Hindi
- a Soviet robotic space satellite
- स्पुटनिक spuṭnik, स्पुतनिक sputnik
sputnik in Tamil
- a Soviet robotic space satellite
- ஸ்புட்னிக் spuṭṉik
sputnik in Urdu
- a Soviet robotic space satellite
- سپوتنک sputnik, اسپتنک isputnik
sputnik in Bengali
- a Soviet robotic space satellite
- স্পুতনিক sputonik
More languagesFewer languages
- sputnik in Telugu
- స్పుత్నిక్ sputnik
- sputnik in Malayalam
- സ്പുട്നിക് spuṭnikŭ
- sputnik in Kannada
- ಸ್ಪುಟ್ನಿಕ್ spuṭnik
- sputnik in Sinhala
- ස්පුට්නික් spuṭnik
- sputnik in Pashto
- سپوتنیک sputnik
- sputnik in Tagalog
- sputnik
- sputnik in Arabic
- سْبُوتْنِيك sbūtnik
- sputnik in Malay
- sputnik
- sputnik in Indonesian
- sputnik
- sputnik in Persian
- سپوتنیک sputnik, اسپوتنیک esputnik
- sputnik in Thai
- สปุตนิก sà-bpút-nìk
- sputnik in Vietnamese
- vệ tinh nhân tạo, xpút-nhích
- sputnik in Myanmar
- စပွတ်နစ် ca.pwatnac
Examples of sputnik in a sentence
- Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon.2011 January 5, Barack Obama; Jon Favreau, speechwriter, “Remarks by the President in State of Union Address”, in White House Office of the...
- Of course, long before this reliable systems of meteorological sputniks, world-wide television sputniks, navigation sputniks, etc., will be created.1965, The Contemporary:
Synonyms of sputnik
Forms of sputnik
| plural | sputniks |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Sputnik |
| plural | Sputniks |
Origin of sputnik
From Russian спу́тник (spútnik, “satellite”, literally “fellow traveller”), from с- (s-, “with, together”) + пу́тник (pútnik, “traveller”), from путь (putʹ, “way, journey”) + agent suffix -ник (-nik).
See sputnik. The vaccine sense is an ellipsis of Sputnik V, from Russian Спутник V (Sputnik V), a trade name given after Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.
Words formed from sputnik
Phrases with sputnik
Questions about sputnik
- What does sputnik mean?
- Sputnik means any of a series of Soviet robotic space satellites, especially the first one in 1957.
- What is sputnik in Hindi?
- Sputnik in Hindi is स्पुटनिक (spuṭnik), स्पुतनिक (sputnik). See Sputnik meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use sputnik in a sentence?
- Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we would beat them to the moon.
- What part of speech is sputnik?
- Sputnik can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce sputnik?
- Sputnik is pronounced /ˈspʊtnɪk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of sputnik?
- The plural of sputnik is sputniks.
Words near sputnik in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sputnik (page history and authors); Sputnik (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sputnik.wav.
Cite this entry: “sputnik.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sputnik. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.