petrostate

British

/ ˈpɛtrəˌsteɪt /

noun

derogatory a small oil-rich country in which institutions are weak and wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a few

"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

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.

“I think the anger, to be righteous in nature, has to be directed at the bad actors who have blocked climate progress: fossil fuel executives and petrostate authoritarians,” Mann said.

From Salon • Oct. 22, 2024

No sign here that the country has become a premier-league petrostate.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2024

Gas prices shot up nearly 80% from January to July — a shock for a wealthy petrostate that has long considered cheap fuel a birthright.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 24, 2022

Ten years earlier, Venezuela, a petrostate under the presidency of Hugo Chávez, witnessed a bust in oil prices.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2021

TORONTO—A new bounty from the sea is turning Newfoundland from one of the poorest parts of Canada into a budding petrostate off the coast of North America.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2014

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023