oligarch means A member of an oligarchy; someone who is part of a small group that runs a country. It carries an Arena rating of 1513, earned across 25 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, oligarch ranks #1,183 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,504 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,963 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,254 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
oligarch is pronounced /ˈɒlɪˌɡɑːk/.
Why “oligarch” is a great word
OLIGARCH — [Noun] A member of a small, powerful group that rules a state or organization, especially a very wealthy individual who wields significant political influence. From French oligarque, from Late Latin oligarcha, from Ancient Greek ὀλιγάρχης (oligárkhēs), from ὀλίγος (olígos, "few") + -άρχης (-árkhēs, "ruler, leader"). First recorded in English c. 1600. Unlike an autocrat, a solitary ruler with absolute power, or a plutocrat, whose authority flows explicitly from wealth, an oligarch derives power from membership in a ruling few, a status often fortified by vast riches. It is the murmured consensus in a guarded boardroom that becomes state policy, the consolidation of media and minerals under a single family name, and the sleek yacht that serves as a mobile border beyond national law—power understood not as a crown, but as a shared, unspoken language, a quiet tyranny of the inner circle.
Etymology
From French oligarque, olygarche, from Late Latin oligarcha, from Ancient Greek ὀλιγάρχης (oligárkhēs). By surface analysis, olig- (“few”) + -arch (“ruler, leader”).
noun
- A member of an oligarchy; someone who is part of a small group that runs a country.
- A very wealthy business owner who wields political power.e.g.“Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus.” — 1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 251:
- A protoplanet formed during oligarchic accretion.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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