polity
noun
a particular form or system of government.
polities
-
pluralof polity.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
This particular form of instability—in which electoral outcomes haven’t caught up with voters’ frustrations—has long plagued polities on the Continent, where proportional voting systems accelerate the fracturing of authority in parliaments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Washington, having spurned a crown himself, recognized the siren song that could bewitch even ostensibly democratic leaders, particularly in polities where checks on power are easily subverted.
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2025
From the nature of our highly diverse pre-contact society of small, autonomous polities to the destructive forces of successive colonial regimes, California Indians’ distinct history is often incompatible with federal acknowledgment criteria.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2024
In these half-historical soap operas, the heroes are decisive, brave, glorious, but the polities they lead are fragile, teetering, menaced by outsiders.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
They constantly shifted configuration, some expanding by swarming over their neighbors, others imploding when their constituent villages seceded and joined other polities.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
