ochlocracy

American  

[ok-lok-ruh-see] / ɒkˈlɒk rə si /

noun

1. government by the mob; mob rule; mobocracy.

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ochlocracy British  

/ ɒkˈlɒkrəsɪ, ˈɒkləˌkræt, ˌɒkləˈkrætɪk /

noun

1. rule by the mob; mobocracy

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Other Word Forms

• ochlocrat noun
• ochlocratic adjective
• ochlocratical adjective
• ochlocratically adverb

Etymology

Origin of ochlocracy

1475–85; < Greek ochlokratía, equivalent to óchl ( os ) mob + -o- -o- + -kratia -cracy

Example Sentences

But few want to allow voters to write them: that would be not so much democracy, they say, as ochlocracy—mob rule.

From Economist

We will not carry on any further our picture of the ochlocracy, in which all social union was entirely dissolved, and the state was surrendered to the arbitrary will of a turbulent populace.

From Project Gutenberg

Oligarchies are unjust to the many, and ochlocracies are unjust to the few.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence Pythagoras and his disciples, though they were vegetable-eaters, eschewed the bean as an article of diet, from its association with politics, demagogism, and ochlocracy.

From Project Gutenberg

They have appeared in autocracies, aristocracies, theocracies, democracies, and ochlocracies, all alike.

From Project Gutenberg