tankie
tank·ie/ˈtæŋ.ki/noun, adjective
tankie is spelled T-A-N-K-I-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (tank·ie). It appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tankie means “A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who supported the Soviet Union's policy of crushing revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tankie is tankies.
How many letters and syllables are in tankie?
| Letters | 6: T-A-N-K-I-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: tank·ie |
| In writing | about once in every 46 million words; the 209,386th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tankie?
Tankie appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tankie?
- /ˈtæŋ.ki/
- [ˈtʰæŋ.ki]
- /ˈteɪ̯ŋ.ki/
Tankie has 2 syllables, split tank·ie in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-tankie.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tankie
Sounds like: tanky (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tankie?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as tankie.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: intake.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tankie
- tankies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tankie mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKslangA member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) who supported the Soviet Union's policy of crushing revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by sending tanks into those countries.
- 2
slangA supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, or other authoritarian socialist governments.
Near-synonym: authcom
- 3
slangA soldier from a tank regiment.
- 4
slangA tank engine.
adjective
- 1
derogatoryslangSupporting the policies of the Soviet Union or other Marxist-Leninist governments.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tankie in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense A supporter of policies and actions by the Soviet Union, China, Cuba or other Ma:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tankie |
| Spanish | tankie |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tankie come from?
From tank + -ie (diminutive suffix). Sense 1 and, by extension, sense 2 were named for the tanks used by the Soviet Union against uprisings in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).