ватник

Russian

Etymology

From ва́та (váta, “cotton wool”) +‎ -ник (-nik).

For sense 2, from the clothing worn by Soviet citizens, and an online satirical cartoon by the cartoonist Anton Chadsky about a sentient jacket simply known as "ва́тник". The term was popularised by netizens in VKontakte and LIVEJOURNAL, and the Russian opposition in general.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈvatʲnʲɪk]

Noun

ватник (1)

ва́тник • (vátnik) m inan or m anim (genitive ва́тника, nominative plural ва́тники, genitive plural ва́тников, feminine ва́тница)

(inanimate) quilted jacket, vatnik
Synonyms: фуфа́йка (fufájka), телогре́йка (telogréjka)
(animate, derogatory, neologism) vatnik, sovok, over-zealous extremely patriotic Russian person
Synonyms: сово́к (sovók), портя́нка (portjánka)

Usage notes

In sense (2), the term is commonly used by Russian liberals to label right-wingers and supporters of Vladimir Putin's policies, including the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The term is often considered Russophobic and offensive by the latter.

Declension

Declension of ва́тник (bian masc-form velar-stem accent-a)

	singular	plural
nominative	ва́тник vátnik	ва́тники vátniki
genitive	ва́тника vátnika	ва́тников vátnikov
dative	ва́тнику vátniku	ва́тникам vátnikam
accusative animate inanimate	ва́тника vátnika	ва́тников vátnikov
accusative animate inanimate	ва́тник vátnik	ва́тники vátniki
instrumental	ва́тником vátnikom	ва́тниками vátnikami
prepositional	ва́тнике vátnike	ва́тниках vátnikax

Descendants

→ Armenian: վատնիկ (vatnik)
→ Belarusian: ва́тнік (vátnik)
→ Crimean Tatar: vatnik
→ English: vatnik
→ Georgian: ვატნიკი (vaṭniḳi)
→ German: Watnik
→ Latvian: vatņiks
→ Lithuanian: vatnikas
→ Ukrainian: ва́тник (vátnyk)
→ Uzbek: vatnik