kompromat

See also: Kompromat

English

Alternative forms

• (very rare) compromat

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát), short for компромети́рующий материа́л (komprometírujuščij materiál, “compromising material”). Soviet security service slang from the Stalin era.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

kompromat (countable and uncountable, plural kompromats)

1. Compromising material, blackmail material, (real or fabricated) evidence that a person does not want revealed, dirt.

   Many observers have commented that, with so many Russian newspapers and TV channels now controlled by oligarchs or powerful organisations, kompromat is now a regular feature in the supposedly independent press.

   • 2020 September 3, Cory Doctorow, “Big Car says Right to Repair will MURDER YOU”, in Pluralistic‎^[1], archived from the original on 16 September 2026:

     If your car has a bunch of data that's useful to stalkers, it's only because the car manufacturers have turned cars into rolling surveillance platforms that spy on their drivers constantly […] If Big Car is worried that used vehicles are full of nonconsensually collected kompromat, maybe they could, you know, just stop collecting all that data?

   • 2025 September 9, Ross Douthat, “Can Trump Deflate the Epstein Birthday-Book Scandal?”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     This could mean that the most powerful men involved in the scandal are good at intimidating accusers. But it could also mean Epstein really was just following his own perversions, not catering to (or gathering kompromat on) his wealthy friends.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

Translations

dirt, compromising material

• Belarusian: кампрама́т m (kampramát)
• Bulgarian: компрома́т m (kompromát)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黑材料 (hēicáiliào), 黑料 (hēiliào)

• Dutch: kompromat m or f or n
• Finnish: kompromaatti, vahingoittava materiaali
• French: kompromat (fr) m
• German: Kompromat (de) n, kompromittierendes Material n
• Hungarian: kompromittáló anyag
• Korean: 콤프로마트 (kompeuromateu)
• Polish: hak (pl) m, haki (pl) m pl, kompromat (pl) m
• Russian: компрома́т (ru) (kompromát)
• Swedish: kompromat
• Ukrainian: компрома́т (uk) m (kompromát)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɔm.proːˈmɑt/
• Hyphenation: kom‧pro‧mat
• Rhymes: -ɑt

Noun

kompromat c or n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. kompromat, blackmail material, dirt (chiefly in Russian contexts)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔmˈprɔ.mat/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔmat
• Syllabification: kom‧pro‧mat

Noun

kompromat m inan

1. (chiefly in the plural, rare) kompromat

   Synonyms: hak, komprmateriał

Declension

Declension of kompromat

	singular	plural
nominative	kompromat	kompromaty
genitive	kompromatu	kompromatów
dative	kompromatowi	kompromatom
accusative	kompromat	kompromaty
instrumental	kompromatem	kompromatami
locative	kompromacie	kompromatach
vocative	kompromacie	kompromaty

Related terms

adjective

• kompromitujący

noun

• kompromitacja

verb

• kompromitować impf

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian компрома́т (kompromát), cognate with English kompromat. Used at least since 1999.

Noun

kompromat ?

1. kompromat, compromising material

   Den vanligaste metoden är att plocka fram eller fabricera kompromat. Det är för att kunna spela det här spelet riktigt effektivt som tillgången till medierna är så viktig.

   The most common method is to collect or fabricate kompromat. It is in order to play this game at full strength that access to media is so important.