mediocracy
Americannoun
Usage
Where does mediocracy come from? The first recorded use of mediocracy comes from an 1845 Whig Party resolution referring to the administration of President James K. Polk as a “reign of shuffling incompetency and mousing mediocracy” (the Whigs would have won Twitter, apparently). Mediocracy is a blend of mediocre and the Greek root -cracy, meaning “rule,” “government,” or “governing body” (as in democracy and aristocracy). Mediocre comes from the Latin mediocris, meaning “in a middle state” (literally “at middle height”). Just as an aristocracy is a government run by aristocrats, a mediocracy is a government of leaders considered mediocre—unexceptional or inferior. The defining feature of a mediocracy is that those in power lack the quality or skill that is normally expected of leaders. The term is most often used in political commentary to refer to governments considered incompetent or ineffective. It can also be applied to organizations outside of government, such as businesses, as in After the original leadership team was fired, standards were lowered across the board and this place turned into a mediocracy. Mediocracy isn’t only the negative label for unfavorable governments. It is similar to terms like kakistocracy (rule by the worst) and kleptocracy (rule by thieves). Mediocracy is rarely used. For that reason, it may be mistaken for the word mediocrity, which means “the quality or state of being mediocre.”
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mediocracy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
How could such facts be understood unless we had previously taken that rapid glance at the Mediocracy.
From Sons of the Soil by Balzac, Honoré de
Montcornet, who was wholly without suspicion of the strength and influence of the Mediocracy in his happy valley, did not even mention Gaubertin, whose hand kept these embers of opposition always alive, though smouldering.
From Sons of the Soil by Balzac, Honoré de
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
