caudillismo
/ˌkaʊdiːlˈjiːzməʊ/
caudillismo means the type of government ruled by a caudillo. It carries an Arena rating of 1324, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, caudillismo ranks #2,403 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,787 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #4,918 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #5,428 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
caudillismo is pronounced /ˌkaʊdiːlˈjiːzməʊ/.
Why “caudillismo” is a great word
A system of political power based on the personalist, often military leadership of a strongman who rules through charisma, force, and patronage. From Spanish caudillismo, from caudillo ('leader, chief, military strongman') + the suffix -ismo ('-ism'), denoting a system or practice; first recorded in English use around 1955–60. Unlike a 'dictatorship'—a general term for autocratic rule—or 'presidentialism'—a constitutional framework—caudillismo denotes an extra-constitutional authority woven from personal loyalty and violent spectacle. It is the dust cloud of horsemen approaching a hacienda, the public square where opposition dissolves into silence, and the elaborate network of favors that binds a nation to one man's whims—the transformation of a nation's abstract institutions into the tangible, often tragic, extension of a single will.
Etymology
From Spanish caudillismo.
noun
- The type of government ruled by a caudillo.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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