banana republics
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The term banana republic is often used in a disparaging sense; it suggests an unstable government.
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.
Disinformation was for dictatorships, banana republics and failed states.
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2017
I love what happens in banana republics - even one as gigantic as this one!
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2016
In these banana republics, the caudillo exercises both executive and legislative powers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2015
Before 1962, if John Q. Nobody gave any thought to South America at all, it probably didn't range much beyond banana republics, fugitive Nazis and Carmen Miranda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2012
Said the moderate Johannesburg Star: "Ciskei has become a byword for all the worst excesses of banana republics."
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
