kleptocracy

[klep-tok-ruh-see]

noun, plural klep·toc·ra·cies.

a government or state in which those in power exploit national resources and steal; rule by a thief or thieves.

Origin of kleptocracy

1815–20; klepto- (combining form of Greek kléptēs thief) + -cracy

Related formsklep·to·crat [klep-tuh-krat] /ˈklɛp təˌkræt/, nounklep·to·crat·ic [klep-tuh-krat-ik] /ˌklɛp təˈkræt ɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for kleptocracy

Contemporary Examples of kleptocracy

Proceeds from its North Sea drilling rigs will insure corruption and kleptocracy on a Nigerian scale.
Up to a Point: A Free Scotland Would Be a Hilarious Disaster
P. J. O’Rourke
September 13, 2014
How about staging large-scale NATO military maneuvers at the border and freezing the assets of the kleptocracy?
This Really Is Obama's Moment of Truth
Jonathan Alter
September 4, 2014
Indeed, a condition of rampant, endemic political corruption is known as a “kleptocracy”—literally, “rule by thieves.”
Ehud Olmert’s Sentencing Won’t Be a Day of Reckoning for Israel’s Leaders
Alon Ben-Meir
May 15, 2014
But no political parties are immune to the infection of kleptocracy in Ukraine.
Europe, Stunned by Reckless Russia, Mistrusts Feckless Ukrainian Leaders
James Kirchick
March 24, 2014

British Dictionary definitions for kleptocracy

kleptocracy

cleptocracy

noun plural -cies

informal a government where officials are politically corrupt and financially self-interested

Word Origin for kleptocracy

C20: from klepto (mania) + -cracy

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

Word Origin and History for kleptocracy

"rule by a class of thieves," 1819, originally in reference to Spain; see kleptomania + -cracy.