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plutocracy

 - 4 dictionary results

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.
Use plutocracy in a Sentence
Origin:
1645–55; < Gk ploutokratía, equiv. to ploûto(s) wealth + -kratia -cracy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
plutocracy (pluːˈtɒkrəsɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—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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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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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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