theocracy

[thee-ok-ruh-see]

noun

plural

theocracies 

1. a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, the God's or deity's laws being interpreted by the ecclesiastical authorities.

2. a system of government by priests claiming a divine commission.

3. a commonwealth or state under such a form or system of government.

theocracy

/ θɪˈɒkrəsɪ /

noun

1. government by a deity or by a priesthood

2. a community or political unit under such government

theocracy

1. A nation or state in which the clergy exercise political power and in which religious law is dominant over civil law. Iran led by the Ayatollah Khomeini was a theocracy under the Islamic clergy. (See Islam.)

Other Word Forms

• theocrat noun
• theocratically adverb
• theocratic adjective
• theocratical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of theocracy¹

From the Greek word theokratía, dating back to 1615–25; theo-, -cracy

Example Sentences

“A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy,” Orwell wrote in his diary while he was working on the book.

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Wilson, whose ministry operates hundreds of churches around the world, is an outspoken right-wing evangelical, espousing extremely conservative views of Christianity, including the view that the U.S. should be a theocracy.

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Republicans are getting increasingly aggressive about spreading Christian nationalist lies that the U.S. was founded as a functional theocracy, when it was intended to be a secular nation.

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The reality is that nationalism, not theocracy, remains what what the historian Ali Ansari calls the “determining ideology” of Iran.

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Are they going to turn Alabama into a theocracy, like Iran, where women don't have rights?

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Related Words

• hierocracy