Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun Informal.
- a Soviet citizen, usually Jewish, who was denied permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union.
noun
- (formerly) a Jew in the Soviet Union who had been refused permission to emigrate
- a person who refuses to cooperate with a system or comply with a law because of a moral conviction
“Soviet Jew who has been refused permission to emigrate to Israel,” 1975, a partial translation of Russian otkaznik, from otkazat “to refuse;” with English refuse (v.). Also cf. -nik.