banana republic

[ buh-nan-uhri-puhb-lik ]

nounUsually Disparaging.

a small, poor country, often reliant on a single export or limited resource, governed by an authoritarian regime and characterized by corruption and economic exploitation by foreign corporations conspiring with local government officials.
any exploitative government that functions poorly for its citizenry while disproportionately benefiting a corrupt elite group or individual.

Origin of banana republic

Coined by O. Henry in his short-story collection Cabbages and Kings (1904); originally used to describe those agrarian countries of Central America dependent in the early 20th century on foreign investment in fruit exports

Words Nearby banana republic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use banana republic in a sentence

Tropico is the excellent nation-builder game that simulates a Caribbean banana republic during the Cold War.
Nerdiness from Noah: How Tropico Taught Me Central Planning Can't Work | Noah Kristula-Green | April 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
If those consumers get their hands on some money, they'll move upmarket to Crate and Barrel and banana republic.
The Real Lesson of JC Penney: Sometimes, You're Stuck | Megan McArdle | April 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It's pure banana republic stuff, but American style, done under cover of law and legitimacy.
Florida, Banana Republic | Michael Tomasky | June 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
This time we are back in 1941 and flit from Berlin (“the capital of a banana republic that had run out of bananas”) to Prague.
Must Read Fiction: ‘Prague Fatale,’ ‘Derby Day’ and More | Malcolm Forbes, Hillary Kelly, Mythili Rao | May 9, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Opponents said Sarkozy backing his son for the job made France look like a “banana republic.”
A Sarkozy Is Born | Tracy McNicoll | October 20, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

They stood now almost facetoface, the width of one pitiful little banana republic between them.
Greener Than You Think | Ward Moore
In the constitution of this small, maritime banana republic was a forgotten section that provided for the maintenance of a navy.
Cabbages and Kings | O. Henry
At that time we had a treaty with about every foreign country except Belgium and that banana republic, Anchuria.
Cabbages and Kings | O. Henry

British Dictionary definitions for banana republic

banana republic

noun

derogatory a small country, esp in Central America, that is politically unstable and has an economy dominated by foreign interest, usually dependent on one export, such as bananas

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

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