Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

gulag

American  
[goo-lahg] / ˈgu lɑg /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

  1. the system of forced-labor camps in the Soviet Union.

  2. a Soviet forced-labor camp.

  3. any prison or detention camp, especially for political prisoners.

Gulag British  
/ ˈɡuːlæɡ /

noun

  1. (formerly) the central administrative department of the Soviet security service, established in 1930, responsible for maintaining prisons and forced labour camps

  2. (not capital) any system used to silence dissents

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
gulag Cultural  

  1. A system of prison camps inside the former Soviet Union used for political prisoners. Under Joseph Stalin, millions of prisoners in these camps died from starvation and maltreatment. This system was given worldwide attention in the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Gulag is an acronym in Russian of the name meaning Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps.

Etymology

Origin of gulag

1970–75; < Russian Gulág, acronym from Glávnoe upravlénie ispravítelʾno-trudovýkh lageréĭ Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps

Compare meaning

How does gulag compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Inspired by a novella by Soviet physicist Georgy Demidov, who chronicled his own harrowing experiences in the gulag from the late 1930s until the early 1950s, “Two Prosecutors” unfolds with ominous efficiency.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

As dark as the novel becomes, “the real darkness of the gulag there was so bleak that I had to cut it out,” the author has said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

They included 2003's I Am David, about a boy who escapes a gulag in Bulgaria, and the comedy Bringing Down the House, starring Steve Martin, from the same year.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2025

It gives the Surge plenty of time to pack our gulag go-bag and leave it by the front door.

From Slate • Dec. 7, 2024

Their erstwhile central European co-inmates in the gulag of communism are now keen to distance themselves.

From The Belgian Curtain Europe after Communism by Vaknin, Samuel

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.