plutocracy means government by the wealthy. It carries an Arena rating of 1615, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, plutocracy ranks #392 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #723 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,317 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,016 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words.
plutocracy is pronounced /pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/.
Why “plutocracy” is a great word
Rule by the wealthy, a state where wealth translates directly into governing power. From Ancient Greek πλοῦτος (ploûtos, "wealth") + κράτος (krátos, "power, rule"), via Greek πλουτοκρατία (ploutokratía, "rule of the wealthy"); first attested in English c. 1650s. Unlike "oligarchy," a rule by any few, or "aristocracy," a rule by birthright, plutocracy is the unapologetic dominion of capital. It is the gilded door to the private club of state, the soft click of well-shod shoes on floors where decisions are made by those who will never feel their consequences, the legal code rewritten in the margins of a ledger—a silent coup where power, like capital, tends to accumulate where it already rests.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πλουτοκρατία (ploutokratía, “rule of the wealthy”), from πλουτοκρατέω (ploutokratéō, “I rule through wealth”), from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “wealth”) + κρατέω (kratéō, “I rule”) (from κράτος (krátos, “power”, “might”)).
noun
- Government by the wealthy.
- A controlling class of the wealthy.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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