Holodomor

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/ˌhɒlədəˈmɔː(ɹ)/

proper noun

The 1932–33 famine affecting rural Ukraine and other territories of the Soviet Union, a result of the forced collectivization of land-owning peasants by the Soviet government.

Similar
artificial faminefamine-genocideGreat Famineterror famineterror-genocide
Scrabble 15

Meanings

proper nounHolodomor (plural Holodomors)

plural Holodomors · alternative Golodomor · alternative holodomor

  1. historicalThe 1932–33 famine affecting rural Ukraine and other territories of the Soviet Union, a result of the forced collectivization of land-owning peasants by the Soviet government.

    In 1928 the village was divided into kulaks, middle-peasants, and poor peasants: "this was the beginning of the planned murder-famine (holodomor)."

    1990, Oral History of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine, volume 2, Washington, DC: Commission on the Ukraine Famine, page 1034
    4 more examples

    This article argues that English studies about the Holodomor should focus on the historical conditions that led to it, through study and interpretation of narrative (political, media, religious, and testimonial) texts.

    1995, The English Quarterly, vv 27–29, Toronto: Canadian Council of Teachers of English, p 49

    There are sophists who retort that Mr. Duranty was recognized for what he wrote before he bore false witness about the Holodomor, as Ukrainians refer to this genocide.

    2004, Lubomyr Y. Luciuk, Not Worthy: Walter Duranty’s Pulitzer Prize and the New York Times, Kingston, Canada: Kashtan Press, p 152

    Recalling the Joint Statement on the 70th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine (Holodomor) that was circulated as an official document of the United Nations General Assembly and in which Holodomor was officially recognized as the national tragedy of the Ukrainian people, caused by the cruel actions and policies of the totalitarian regime, […]

    2007, Remembrance of Victims of the Great Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine, Paris: Unesco General Conference, annex p 1

    The resolution, which will be jointly brought to the vote next week by the three governing parties and conservative opposition leaders, will describe the 1932–33 Holodomor as part of “a list of inhuman crimes by totalitarian systems that extinguished millions of human lives in Europe in the first half of the 20th century”.

    2022 November 25, Philip Oltermann, “Germany set to declare starvation of Ukrainians under Stalin a genocide”, in The Guardian
  2. historicalrareА famine with mass deaths, especially one of the Soviet famines in 1921–22, 1932–33, or 1946–47.

    Some of the publications of the Association’s regional branches are also steeped in xenophobia and anti-Semitism (for example, the proceedings of the 2003 Kharkiv conference “The Holodomors in Ukraine: Reasons, Victims, Perpetrators”).

    2008, Liudmyla Grynevych [Hrynevych], “The Present State of Ukrainian Historiography on the Holodomor and Prospects for its Development,” Harriman Review, v 16, n 2 (November, “Holodomor 1932–33: Papers from the 75th-Anniversary Conference”), p 17

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
artificial faminefamine-genocideGreat Famineterror famineterror-genocide
Also see

Origin

  1. UkrainianГолодомо́р
  2. EnglishHolodomor

Late 1980s, from Ukrainian Голодомо́р (Holodomór), from го́лод (hólod, “hunger, famine”) + мо́р (mór, “mass death, exhaustion”). Compare мори́ти (morýty, “kill by hunger or exhaustion”, verb). Not related to Holocaust.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Holodomor
  • Holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Arabic هُولُودُومُور
  • هُولُودُومُور (holodomōr)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Bulgarian Гладомо́р, гладомо́р
  • Гладомо́р (Gladomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
  • гладомо́р (gladomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Chinese Mandarin 烏克蘭大飢荒 /乌克兰大饥荒
  • 烏克蘭大飢荒 /乌克兰大饥荒 (Wūkèlán dà jīhuang)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Czech hladomor
  • hladomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Danish holodomor
  • holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Estonian golodomor
  • golodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Finnish holodomor
  • holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
French Holodomor
  • Holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
German Holodomor
  • Holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Greek Γολοντομόρ
  • Γολοντομόρ (Golontomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Hebrew הוֹלוֹדוֹמוֹר
  • הוֹלוֹדוֹמוֹר (holodomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Hindi होलोदोमोर
  • होलोदोमोर (holodomor)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Italian Holodomor
  • Holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Japanese ホロドモール
  • ホロドモール (horodomōru)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Korean 홀로도모르
  • 홀로도모르 (hollodomoreu)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Latvian golodomors
  • golodomors1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Lithuanian holodomoras
  • holodomoras1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Persian هولودومور
  • هولودومور (holodomôr)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Polish Hołodomor, Wielki Głód
  • Hołodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
  • Wielki Głód1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Portuguese Holodomor
  • Holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Russian Голодомо́р, голодомо́р
  • Голодомо́р (Golodomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
  • голодомо́р (golodomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Slovak hladomor
  • hladomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Swedish holodomor
  • holodomor1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Ukrainian Голодомо́р, голодомо́р
  • Голодомо́р (Holodomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
  • голодомо́р (holodomór)1932–33 famine in Ukraine
Cite this entry
APA

Holodomor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Holodomor

MLA

“Holodomor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Holodomor. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Holodomor,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Holodomor.

Source: Holodomor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.