corridors of power

Idioms  

1. The offices of powerful leaders. For example, As clerk to a Supreme Court justice, Jim thought he'd get his foot inside the corridors of power. This term was first used by C.P. Snow in his novel Homecomings (1956) for the ministries of Britain's Whitehall, with their top-ranking civil servants. Later it was broadened to any high officials.

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Example Sentences

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corridors of power

Every nudge he gives is seized on in public, and in Whitehall's corridors of power.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

The paranoia runs in the corridors of power at the Bernabeu and will now be in the dugout with Mourinho - although, in fact, predecessor Alvaro Arbeloa has bought that vision of the world already.

From BBC ● May 13, 2026

“The need to understand what is happening in these corridors of power in 2026 is greater than ever before.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

Larry the cat, the UK's most famous feline, marks 15 years on Sunday as the country's chief mouser patrolling the corridors of power around number 10 Downing Street.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

Nor can they serve as "US Ambassadors" in the European corridors of power.

From The Belgian Curtain Europe after Communism by Samuel Vaknin

Related Words

• hierarchy
• ruling class