Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Government by the worst men in the state: opposed to aristocracy, government by the best men.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Government by the worst men.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word kakistocracy, meaning "government by the worst citizens," is "a word worth remembering," he quips.
Daily News-Record 2008
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Why must we be ruled by a "kakistocracy" -- a government by the worst citizens?
KeysNews.com - 2008
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Steve Bell's Gordon as a big baby in a pooh-filled nappy may well have created the perfect image of the "kakistocracy"...
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After seven years of murder, mayhem and kakistocracy I am voting for ABR (Any But Republicans) this November.
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That, if FMD is shown to have escaped because of flooding, will be a most grave matter which will undoubtedly redound on this Labour kakistocracy.
FMD Spin Continues 2007
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That, if FMD is shown to have escaped because of flooding, will be a most grave matter which will undoubtedly redound on this Labour kakistocracy.
Archive 2007-08-05 2007
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The American poet James Russell Lowell wrote in a letter in 1876: "Is ours a government of the people, by the people, for the people, or a kakistocracy rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?"
Rick Finkelstein: Kakistocracy... A Word You Should Know 2008
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An example of nepotism that is poisoning us by Bucky the Commoner on Monday, Jul 14, 2008 at 10: 04: 25 AM from meritocracy to kakistocracy by Levon on Monday, Jul 14, 2008 at 10: 14: 26 AM
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Whatever the depredations of the Bush kakistocracy, we are quite a ways (though not as far as we used to be) from a fascist dictatorship.
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There's a website getyourkidtovote. com that encourages parents to send kakistocracy tee shirts to their college age kids to remind them and their classmates of the stakes in this election and to encourage them to vote.
Rick Finkelstein: Kakistocracy... A Word You Should Know 2008
frindley commented on the word kakistocracy
Word: kakistocracy. Definition: The government of a state by the worst citizens. A very useful word!
(Helen Collins, London, England)
October 15, 2008
machiavelli commented on the word kakistocracy
Kakistocracy (n): what we have now (if you are not a member of the ruling party).
November 3, 2008
machiavelli commented on the word kakistocracy
Kakistocracy (n): what we have now (if you are not a member of the ruling party).
November 3, 2008
yarb commented on the word kakistocracy
Citation on thurible.
June 19, 2009