Meaning of refusednik | Babel Free

Definitions

Noun. [B2]

Examples

“"The most important point" in the agreement, said [Alexander] Luntz and another "Refusednik," Leonid Tsipin, 22, is that visas are to be given in order of application. This should preclude continued refusal of visas to dissidents and lead to release of those already imprisoned.”

“Among those who already have gone are some of Moscow’s better-known “refusedniks,” those who were refused exit visas during the last years' clampdown on emigration. These departures, and the reverberations they have caused in both the refusednik and foreign communities here have been amplified by reports from abroad that the Soviets are opening the emigration valves again after drastically cutting back the flow in recent years.”

“In an interview this week, she [Tatyana Ziman] said the anxiety and hope of the “refusedniks” had reached a painful pitch in the weeks leading up to the summit. “Why are the hopes so high now?” Mrs. Ziman asked. “Because there is nothing else to pin their hopes on. The history of emigration the last few years is that when any head of government comes here, or when Gorbachev goes someplace where human rights are respected, he extracts a group of refusedniks and gives them as a gift.””

““It’s overwhelming,” said Jonathan Gibbs, describing the turn of evens that brought the Berenfelds and other “refusedniks” to America. Jonathan said he prefers the term “refusedniks” as opposed to “refuseniks” because “they haven’t refused anything. They’re the ones being refused.””

CEFR level