tankie

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tankie

  • /ˈtæŋ.ki/
  • [ˈtʰæŋ.ki]
  • /ˈteɪ̯ŋ.ki/
  • [ˈtʰeɪ̯ŋ.ki]
  • /ˈtɛ̃ŋ.ki/
  • [ˈtʰɛ̃ŋ.ki]

Sounds like tanky · Rhymes with -æŋki

Where it comes from

From tank + -ie (diminutive suffix).

Sense 1 and, by extension, sense 2 were named for the tanks used by the Soviet Union against uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

noun tankies

  1. UK, historical, slang A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who supported the Soviet Union's policy of crushing revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by sending tanks into those countries. [W]e also desired to shock the staid older party members and the tankies. The tankies and softliners differed as to what sort of magazine Challenge should be.
  2. broadly, slang A supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, or other authoritarian socialist governments. Near-synonym: authcom
  3. slang A soldier from a tank regiment. Obviously a thrust by the tankies over the ridge and through the minefield was just not on, there and then in broad daylight, a fact they appeared to recognise. At that stage the Germans were well positioned to give them a warm reception with their powerful 88s and other artillery.
  4. slang A tank engine. The "tankies", as they were known, shunted empty carriages from Copley Hill sidings onto the buffers at Leeds […]

adjective

  1. derogatory, not comparable, slang Supporting the policies of the Soviet Union or other Marxist-Leninist governments.

Translations

Every language

noun A supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or other Marxist-Leninist governments.

Españoltankie
中文蘇馬 /苏马 sūmǎ, 酥麻 sūmá
Françaistankie
Italianotankie

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Cite this
MLA

"tankie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tankie. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tankie. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tankie

Chicago

"tankie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tankie.

BibTeX
@misc{tankie_2026,
  title = {tankie},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tankie},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}