ochlocracy

[ ok-lok-ruh-see ]

See synonyms for ochlocracy on Thesaurus.com

noun

government by the mob; mob rule; mobocracy.

Origin of ochlocracy

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

Other words from ochlocracy

och·lo·crat [ok-luh-krat], /ˈɒk ləˌkræt/, noun
och·lo·crat·ic, och·lo·crat·i·cal, adjective
och·lo·crat·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby ochlocracy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ochlocracy in a sentence

You're going hand in hand with ochlocracy and anarchy, the arch enemy of all legislative order, all civilization and all humanity.
The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Religion, A Dialogue, Etc. | Arthur Schopenhauer
Beggars attack the common right; the ochlocracy rises against demos.
Les Misrables | Victor Hugo
Then the mob of a capital city has overwhelmed the democracy in an ochlocracy.
What Social Classes Owe to Each Other | William Graham Sumner
ochlocracy, ok-lok′ra-si, n. mob-rule: government by the populace.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) | Various

British Dictionary definitions for ochlocracy

ochlocracy

/ (ɒkˈlɒkrəsɪ) /

nounplural -cies

rule by the mob; mobocracy

Origin of ochlocracy

C16: via French, from Greek okhlokratia, from okhlos mob + kratos power

Derived forms of ochlocracy

ochlocrat (ˈɒkləˌkræt), noun
ochlocratic (ˌɒkləˈkrætɪk), adjective

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

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