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plutocracy

 [ploo-tok-ruh-see]   Example Sentences Origin

plu·toc·ra·cy

   [ploo-tok-ruh-see]
noun, plural -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 ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.
Origin:
1645–55; < Greek ploutokratía, equivalent to ploûto(s) wealth + -kratia -cracy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Plutocracy is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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Example Sentences
  • We are probably destined to become a well regulated plutocracy.
  • The unfair plutocracy of the filthy rich must have surely hit a lot of raw nerves.
  • That, in a nutshell, is what the plutocracy is all about: taking unfair advantage.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
plutocracy (pluːˈtɒkrəsɪ)
 
—n , pl -cies
1.  the rule or control of society by the wealthy
2.  a state or government characterized by the rule of the wealthy
3.  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
 
—adj
 
pluto'cratical
 
—adj
 
pluto'cratically
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

plutocracy
1652, from Gk. ploutokratia "rule or power of the wealthy or of wealth," from ploutos "wealth" (see Pluto) + -kratia "rule," from kratos "rule, power." Plutocrat is 1850.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
plutocracy [(plooh-tok-ruh-see)]

Government by the rich. The term is usually one of reproach.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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