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

Perhaps no less important, this compendium captures both the end of the Pahlavi monarchy and the start of the theocracy that still governs Iran, granting viewers an often telling glimpse of Persian society in flux.

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“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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times