plutocracy

government in which the wealthy class rules: In a plutocracy, there is little regard for the poor.

Not to be confused with:

anarchy – the absence of laws or government: The fall of the empire was followed by chaos and anarchy.

aristocracy – rule by elite or privileged upper class: The governing body was composed of the country’s most powerful aristocracy.

democracy – government by the people: The United States is a democracy.

oligarchy – government by the few: The citizens have no voice in an oligarchy.

plu·toc·ra·cy

(plo͞o-tŏk′rə-sē)

n. pl. plu·toc·ra·cies

1. Government by the wealthy.

2. A wealthy class that controls a government.

3. A government or state in which the wealthy rule.

[Greek ploutokratiā : ploutos, wealth; see pleu- in Indo-European roots + -kratiā, -cracy.]

plu′to·crat′ (plo͞o′tə-krăt′) n.

plu′to·crat′ic, plu′to·crat′i·cal adj.

plu′to·crat′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plutocracy

(pluːˈtɒkrəsɪ)

n, pl -cies

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the rule or control of society by the wealthy

2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a state or government characterized by the rule of the wealthy

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a class that exercises power by virtue of its wealth

[C17: from Greek ploutokratia government by the rich, from ploutos wealth + -kratia rule, power]

plutocratic, ˌplutoˈcratical adj

ˌplutoˈcratically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plu•toc•ra•cy

(pluˈtɒk rə si)

n., pl. -cies.

1. the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.

2. a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.

3. a class or group exercising power by virtue of its wealth.

[1645–55; < Greek ploutokratía=ploûto(s) wealth + -kratia -cracy]

plu•to•crat (ˈplū təˌkræt) n.

plu`to•crat′ic adj.

plutocracy

1. the rule of the rich or wealthy.
2. the rich or wealthy who govern under such a system. Also called plousiocracy. — plutocrat, n.

plutocracy

1. A form of government in which power is held by the rich.

2. A society in which power is in the hands of wealthy people.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

plutocracy - a political system governed by the wealthy people

form of government, political system - the members of a social organization who are in power

Translations

plutocracy

[ˌpluːˈtɒkrəsɪ] N → plutocracia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

plutocracy

n → Plutokratie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

plutocracy

[ˌpluːˈtɒkrəsɪ] n → plutocrazia

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

You call it the Plutocracy. We both mean the same thing, the large capitalists or the trusts.

First comes the Plutocracy, which is composed of wealthy bankers, railway magnates, corporation directors, and trust magnates.

The Plutocracy owns sixty-seven billions of wealth.

"Calling us weak does not make you stronger in the face of the strength of the Plutocracy," Ernest retorted.

Even now the Plutocracy is taking it away from you.

But you have the concrete wealth, twenty-four billions of it, and the Plutocracy will take it away from you.

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Peel's late conduct on the Catholic question, innocent of future gold-fields, and of that gorgeous plutocracy which has so nobly exalted the necessities of genteel life.

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1830 England, nominally a monarchy, was in reality a plutocracy of about a hundred thousand men--landed nobles, gentry, and wealthy merchants--whose privileges dated back to fifteenth century conditions.

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She disliked the new element of plutocracy in the social compound, and industrialism as a method of human development appeared to her singularly repulsive in its mechanical and unfeeling character.

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In many ways New York and her gorgeous plutocracy repeated Venice in the magnificence of her architecture, painting, metal-work and sculpture, for example, in the grim intensity,of her political method, in her maritime and commercial ascendancy.

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In the heart of a plutocracy tradesmen become cunning enough to be more fastidious than their customers.

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The talent he retained through life for studying his subject, and even somebodys else's subject, had long been concentrated on this idea of championing a new peasantry against a new plutocracy. He spoke to a crowd with eloquence and replied to an individual with humor, two political arts that seemed to come to him naturally.

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