nanny state

American  

noun

1. a government perceived as authoritarian, interfering, or overprotective.

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nanny state British  

noun

1. a government that makes decisions for people that they might otherwise make for themselves, esp those relating to private and personal behaviour

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Etymology

Origin of nanny state

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

It quotes Mr Starmer as saying his party wants to fight the notion that the "the moment you do anything on child health, people say you're going to have a nanny state."

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2024

Detractors, on the other hand, quickly challenge such policies as being the enactment of the "nanny state".

From Salon • Sep. 18, 2023

It wasn’t long ago we were America’s Singapore, a nanny state that might ticket you for anything from jaywalking to spitting to driving around with a noisy muffler.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2023

Such a perspective is not unlike the one Elder ascribes to the so-called nanny state, which he believes infantilizes people rather than allowing us to make decisions for ourselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2021

Mr. Johnson took similar liberties with the European Union’s myriad regulations, which he presented as a nanny state dictating the minutiae of daily life.

From New York Times • Dec. 10, 2020