Etymology

refusenik

re·fuse·nik
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Today it means: One of the citizens of the former Soviet Union who was refused permission to emigrate (typically but not exclusively a Jewish citizen denied permission to immigrate to Israel). Full definition →

Russian отка́зник
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The story

  1. Russian · calque ofотка́зник
  2. English todayrefusenik

From refuse + -nik (suffix denoting a nickname for a person who endorses, exemplifies, or is associated with something, often a particular ideology or preference), a calque of Russian отка́зник (otkáznik), from отка́з (otkáz, “denial, refusal, rejection, repudiation”) + -ник (-nik, suffix forming masculine nouns, usually denoting adherents, etc.).

Words from the same roots

Russianотка́зник all →

otkaznik

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.