pornocracy
Britishnoun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of pornocracy
C19: from Greek, from pornē a prostitute, harlot + -cracy
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.
Pornocracy, pōr-nok′rā-si, n. the influence of courtezans—applied esp. to the dominant influence of certain profligate women over the Papal court in the earlier half of the 10th century.—ns.
From Project Gutenberg
Guided by his myopic vision and diseased imagination, this writer discerns in the admittance of women into the grand old institution of Richelieu and Napoleon the imminent triumph of what Prudhon called pornocracy and the eventual opening of the portals of the Palais Mazarin to representatives of the type of Lais and Phryne, on the Hellenic pretext that "Beauty is the supreme merit."
From Project Gutenberg
Agapetus, a man of some force of character, did his best to put a stop to the degradation into which the papacy had fallen, the so-called ``Pornocracy,'' which lasted from the accession of Sergius III. in 904 to the deposition of John XII. in 963.
From Project Gutenberg
Suffering is necessary," answered the Moslem; "and I do not grieve at such an end to the pornocracy.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.