democracy
government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
political or social equality; democratic spirit.
the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.
Origin of democracy
1Other words from democracy
- an·ti·de·moc·ra·cy, noun, plural an·ti·de·moc·ra·cies, adjective
- non·de·moc·ra·cy, noun, plural non·de·moc·ra·cies.
- pre·de·moc·ra·cy, noun, plural pre·de·moc·ra·cies.
- pro·de·moc·ra·cy, adjective
Words Nearby democracy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use democracy in a sentence
The political winners ritually prosecuting the political losers is not the stuff of a mature democracy.
America’s founders did not believe in either concept of democracy, so the fact that the hardboiled compromise between large and small states is inegalitarian did not bother them very much.
What Strzok makes clear is that democracy depends on Washington getting with the program.
Head to your state’s elections website, spend some time learning how to vote early, and check “participate in democracy” off your to-do list.
Why you should vote as early as possible (and how to do it) | John Kennedy | September 17, 2020 | Popular-ScienceIt will also be crucial to strengthen democracy and safeguard human rights in response to increasing levels of violence across the region.
Bachelet highlights LGBTQ rights abuses in U.N. Human Rights Council speech | Michael K. Lavers | September 16, 2020 | Washington Blade
A second document was titled: “Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to democracy and Development.”
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTFaal told the FBI that his group was trying “restore democracy to The Gambia and improve the lives of its people.”
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTActually, the guessing game is over; the weddings have begun, as have weird attempts to circumvent our constitutional democracy.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over | Jay Michaelson | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThomas Piketty raised the Big Questions this year about democracy and inequality.
American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years | Jedediah Purdy | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPiketty only waves his hands around the all-important question of whether economic inequality undermines democracy.
American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years | Jedediah Purdy | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe was so zealous a partisan of democracy, and of Cromwell, that the authorities frequently placed him in a straight jacket.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellI have a strong reverence for traditions, and no taste whatever for democracy—that would be too long a step.
Ancestors | Gertrude Athertondemocracy, let us grant it, is the best system of government as yet operative in this world of sin.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockI had long ago adopted democracy as a good policy, so now I stopped to introduce myself.
Nine Men in Time | Noel Miller LoomisHe based this plan upon the premise that democracy would be more successful if greater numbers of individuals were educated.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. Torpey
British Dictionary definitions for democracy
/ (dɪˈmɒkrəsɪ) /
government by the people or their elected representatives
a political or social unit governed ultimately by all its members
the practice or spirit of social equality
a social condition of classlessness and equality
the common people, esp as a political force
Origin of democracy
1Collins 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 democracy
A system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.
Notes for democracy
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.
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