Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Fussy official pomposity: a sarcastic term applied especially to members of petty corporations, as vestries in England, and implying pretentious inefficiency.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun bureaucracy; mannerisms characteristic of pompous, arrogant or pretentious officials.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Mr. Bumble, a character in Oliver Twist + -dom.

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Examples

  • In her speech, she accused Roosevelt of turning American democracy into "a dictatorial bumbledom" through his mismanagement of the war.

    Archive 2009-03-01 Alyssa Gardina 2009

  • In her speech, she accused Roosevelt of turning American democracy into "a dictatorial bumbledom" through his mismanagement of the war.

    Honoring Unforgettable Women: Clare Boothe Luce Alyssa Gardina 2009

  • It's the sheer bumbledom of it all that is so pathetic.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008

  • Street containing many seventeenth-century houses, its old inns, and its balconied Guildhall -- the scene of so many unseemly wrangles among the robed and cocked-hatted borough councillors who are, _par excellence_, outstanding illustrations of the provincial petty jealousies of bumbledom -- Mrs. Bond was welcomed by the trades-people who vied with each other to "serve her."

    Mademoiselle of Monte Carlo William Le Queux 1895

  • They would not only have one member, but would have half the aldermen, half the town-councillors, half the mayor, half the patronage in beadles, bell-ringers and bumbledom in general.

    Ralph the Heir Anthony Trollope 1848

  • Frank P: "It's the sheer bumbledom of it all that is so pathetic.

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008

Comments

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  • This means stupidity, it comes from Oliver Twist.

    August 3, 2008

  • How smug can be the stumblebum!

    Incompetence might humble some,

    But some get elected,

    Become well-connected,

    And dominate our bumbledom.

    Cf. noodledom

    October 28, 2015