plutocracy

[ ploo-tok-ruh-see ]

noun,plural plu·toc·ra·cies.
  1. the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.

  2. a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.

  1. a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.

Origin of plutocracy

1
1645–55; <Greek ploutokratía, equivalent to ploûto(s) wealth + -kratia-cracy

Words Nearby plutocracy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use plutocracy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for plutocracy

plutocracy

/ (pluːˈtɒkrəsɪ) /


nounplural -cies
  1. the rule or control of society by the wealthy

  2. a state or government characterized by the rule of the wealthy

  1. a class that exercises power by virtue of its wealth

Origin of plutocracy

1
C17: from Greek ploutokratia government by the rich, from ploutos wealth + -kratia rule, power

Derived forms of plutocracy

  • plutocratic (ˌpluːtəˈkrætɪk) or plutocratical, adjective
  • plutocratically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for plutocracy

plutocracy

[ (plooh-tok-ruh-see) ]


Government by the rich. The term is usually one of reproach.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.