gerontocracy
Americannoun
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gerontocracies
plural
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government by a council of elders.
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a governing body consisting of old people.
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a state or government in which old people rule.
noun
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government by old people
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a governing body of old people
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gerontocracy
Explanation
A gerontocracy is a society governed by old people. You might see a gerontocracy in a tribe where elders are esteemed for the perspective and wisdom they have acquired. If your grandparents moved into your house and started telling everyone what to do, you might be outraged. Daily Metumucil doses for everyone! No loud music or reading of novels written after the First World War! A good thing then, that we live in a culture that worships youth––we're unlikely to be ruled by a gerontocracy.
Vocabulary lists containing gerontocracy
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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.
See Examples For:
No doubt there are many Super Bowl viewers who, like Johnson or other leading members of this nation’s gerontocracy, had never heard of Bad Bunny or have been conditioned to fear him and his music.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2026
But he is no longer president, and all the lingering anxieties of the gerontocracy have been passed on to the new guy.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2025
Only Ms. Porter, who just turned 50, referred to it directly, but the balance between experienced representation and gerontocracy was a clear subtext.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Once an obscure word, "gerontocracy," which means a government ruled by people who are significantly older than the adult population, is now increasingly part of Americans' vocabulary.
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2023
Early society is dominated by the elders; its practices and customs have been determined by them and, in the most primitive society, government is nothing but a gerontocracy, a government of old men.
From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous
Those aren't gerontocracies as such, since power is distributed in a variety of ways, and the power of elders is usually advisory, not direct or managerial.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2023
But many other tribes took a very different approach: they were gerontocracies, in which the young do as the old say.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2020
But perhaps most significant is the fact that gerontocracies prevent new ideas from entering into the small elite that makes national policy.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 6, 2018
In the 16 years of Brezhnev's rule the average age of the Politburo has crept forward until it stands this year at 70, thus making the U.S.S.R. one of the oldest gerontocracies in the world.
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.
