power structure
Americannoun
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the system of authority or influence in government, politics, education, etc..
The state elections threatened to upset the existing power structure.
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the people who participate in such a system.
She hoped to become a part of the power structure.
noun
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the structure or distribution of power and authority in a community
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the people and groups who are part of such a structure
Etymology
Origin of power structure
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
Although he hasn’t held any official post for five years, Raúl Castro is the patriarch of Cuba’s opaque power structure.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
In Steve McQueen’s dynamic crime thriller, Duvall plays a Chicago politician who has long been a part of the local power structure attempting to hand things off to his son.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 17, 2026
The suspects, said NABU, had created a parallel power structure inside the state enterprise overseeing Ukraine's nuclear power plants, which supply half of the country's energy.
From Barron's • Nov. 13, 2025
Within the current U.S. power structure, Baconi’s arguments are controversial.
From Slate • Nov. 9, 2025
Austin taught Fuller to take on the upper class in the black community with the same zeal and uncompromising spirit that he used in confronting the white power structure.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
