Molotov

American  

[mol-uh-tawf, -tof, moh-luh-, maw-, maw-luh-tuhf] / ˈmɒl əˌtɔf, -ˌtɒf, ˈmoʊ lə-, ˈmɔ-, ˈmɔ lə təf /

noun

1. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin, 1890–1986, Russian statesman: commissar of foreign affairs 1939–49, 1953–56.

2. former name of Perm.

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Molotov ¹ British  

/ ˈmɒləˌtɒf, ˈmɔlətəf /

noun

1. the former name (1940–62) for Perm

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Molotov ² British  

/ ˈmɒləˌtɒf, ˈmɔlətəf /

noun

1. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (vɪtʃɪˈslaf miˈxajləvitʃ), original surname Skriabin. 1890–1986, Soviet statesman. As commissar and later minister for foreign affairs (1939–49; 1953–56) he negotiated the nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany and attended the founding conference of the United Nations and the Potsdam conference (1945)

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Example Sentences

Yet, Paul Thomas Anderson’s fun and fizzy adaptation views its Molotov cocktail as half-full.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025

Molotov was unaware of the incident but promised an investigation.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 1, 2023

He attended a performance on Jan. 26, 1926, with Vyacheslav Molotov, the chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, and two other aides.

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2022

Falling to the floor like winged Molotov cocktails, birds can spark an inferno if they hit an especially dry, tindered patch of earth.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 17, 2022

Indeed, when Stalin, Molotov and a coven of other Party leaders went to the Bolshoi Theatre to see it in December 1935, the same thought occurred to them.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall