Pravda

See also: pravda and pravdã

English

first issue (1912)

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian Правда (Pravda, literally “The Truth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑːvdə/

Proper noun

Pravda

1. The official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and successor papers.
   • 1949 April, John Baker White, “How's Business in Russia?”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     These figures indicate that there must have been considerable wastage in the past; indeed Pravda said that “no deviation from these standards is to be permitted, however slight, and it is the duty of Party workers in factories to exercise their rights of supervision to eliminate waste.”

2. Pravda.ru, a privately owned Russian news website established in 1999.
   • 2014 October 14, “Pravda lashes Tony Abbott as 'disturbed' over threat to shirtfront Vladimir Putin”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Pravda has described Tony Abbott as “a disturbed mind crying out for therapy”: after his threat to “shirtfront” the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Brisbane.

Translations

official newspaper of the Soviet Union

• Bashkir: Пра́вда (Právda)
• Belarusian: Правда (Pravda)
• Bulgarian: Пра́вда (Právda)
• Chechen: Бакъдерг (Baqʼderg)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 真理報／真理报 (zh) (Zhēnlǐbào)

• French: Pravda (fr)
• Kazakh: Правда (Pravda)
• Korean: 프라우다 (peurauda)
• Portuguese: Pravda
• Russian: Правда (ru) f (Pravda)
• Tatar: Правда (Prawda)
• Ukrainian: Правда (uk) (Pravda)

Noun

Pravda (plural Pravdas)

1. (derogatory) A newspaper or other media channel seen as untrustworthy and biased towards its owners or the establishment.
   • 1959, Ireland. Oireachtas. Dáil, Parliamentary debates; official report:

     The fundamental purpose of the Government in introducing this measure, and in turning their three kept newspapers — the three Pravdas of Fianna Fail — to the propaganda campaign, is to wipe out the Labour Party, Clann na Talmhan, Clann na Poblachta and the Independents.

   • 1993, Musician:

     The music press is forever weeping about corporate-dominated music, but their only real contribution is their service as Pravdas of genre orthodoxy; what's "real jazz," "real blues," "real rock 'n' roll," blah blah blah.

   • 1999 February 2, John McGough, “NY Pravda: Ken Starr's Meddling”, in alt.impeach.clinton‎^[3] (Usenet):

     The following is an editorial in today's New York Pravda. My comments are included.

   • 2013, Bloomsbury Publishing, Whitaker's Shorts: Five Years in Review, A&C Black, →ISBN:

     Eric Pickles, the new local government secretary, said he wanted to axe 'the weekly town hall Pravdas' to ensure that a healthy independent local press can scrutinise the work of councils.

   • 2016 October 31, Andrew Marantz, “Trolls for Trump”, in The New Yorker‎^[4], retrieved December 2, 2017:

     Clinton did not mention Cernovich, but she attacked Alex Jones, the paranoiac Texas radio host, and Breitbart.com, the Pravda of the alt-right.

   • 2020 January 22, Terence Corcoran, “Terence Corcoran: Unfund the CBC, Canada's Pravda and national enforcer of truth”, in The Financial Post‎^[5], retrieved December 14, 2023:

     Unfund the CBC, Canada's Pravda and national enforcer of truth