Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A government characterized by rampant greed and corruption.
Wiktionary
- n. A corrupt and dishonest government characterised by greed.
Etymologies
- klepto- + -cracy (Wiktionary)
- Greek kleptein, to steal + -cracy. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“COOPER: His reign of corruption would last three decades, spawning the term kleptocracy, rule by thieves.”
“ANDERSON: His reign of corruption would last three decades, spawning the term kleptocracy, rule by thieves.”
“Many Malaysians now use the word "kleptocracy" to describe their ruling class.”
“A commission on Central America chaired by Henry Kissinger declared in 1984 that the general’s “achievements gave new meaning to the term kleptocracy, that is, government as theft.””
“Or turning into a southern European kleptocracy is much more of something I’d worry about.”
“The journey from revolutionary times, when Mugabe was instrumental in overthrowing a brutal white power structure, to the excesses of his kleptocracy has been a difficult one.”
The Huffington Post: Clarence Lusane: Zimbabwe May Emulate Tunisia, Egypt, Libya...
“A kleptocracy is a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) at the expense of the population.”
HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008
“And those populist waves are usually grounded in a basic neglect of right-wing governments for poor populations, combined with some level of kleptocracy which is endemic in the third world.”
“Reagan ushered in the Brezhnev era of "kleptocracy" where insider looting and corruption increased exponentially to the point where the entire system, economically, politically became dysfuntional.”
White House: Public Option Not Essential--A Sliver Of Reform
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘kleptocracy’.
-
POL - scandalous (single words only)
cadre, bribery, bashing, backhander, clash, crony, coercion, coterie, chicanery, baksheesh, acolyte, backlash and 256 more...
-
POL - scandalous (words and collocati...
Words and collocations associated with political scandal
blow the whistle, boo, cronyism and rigging, democratic deficit, denigrate, dirty linen, fiasco, finger pointing a..., graft, hidden account, hush money, illicit financing... and 578 more...
-
phrontistery - k
from phrontistery.info
kainotophobia, kaiserin, kakidrosis, kakistocracy, kakorrhaphiophobia, kalamkari, kaleidophone, kalology, kalon, kalpis, kalyptra, kame and 189 more...
-
EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
-
Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
-
Forms of government
tyranny, tribal, totalitarianism, timocracy, theocracy, thallassocracy, cyberocracy, technocracy, sociocracy, socialist state, republic, puppet state and 37 more...
-
Forms of Government
A handful of -ocracies.
adhocracy, androcracy, aristocracy, autocracy, cleptocracy, corpocracy, democracy, ethnocracy, gerontocracy, gynecocracy, gyneocracy, gynocracy and 31 more...
-
Kalli's Words
redundant, munchkin, escapade, natch, boom, fap, geek, nocturnal, pedantic, tactile, conversant, oxymoron and 188 more...
-
difficult words
ordure, tatterwallop, callipygian, odious, colophon, cynosure, hardener, emollience, valetudinarian, demonym, volage, polysemantic and 257 more...
-
Potpourri
eponymous, aa, pulchritude, gizmo, macabre, sui generis, solecism, solipsism, eldritch, samizdat, queue, obsequious and 469 more...
-
POL - HU political issues
Hungary in the English-speaking press 2010-2013. Topical words and expressions.
collectivised pri..., controversial pac..., exclusion of unma..., forced labor, forced path of li..., former governor o..., frustrations born..., gay-hater, generous governme..., genuine economic ..., go public with Je..., golden generation and 493 more...
-
kalidas's Words
crepuscular, mellifluous, ephemeral, diaphanous, zeitgeist, geisterfahrer, infinite, eternal, idyllic, azure, reminiscent, oblivion and 521 more...
-
bertilak's Words
antidisestablishm..., feldercarb, wainscoting, eleemosynary, oxymoron, fuliginous, libration, lammergeier, saxifrage, ichor, lambent, smaragdine and 414 more...
-
mccaff's Words
schadenfreude, defenestration, monogamous, epipsychidion, chintz, befall, brouhaha, shenanigans, hooligans, lambasted, servitude, portcullis and 113 more...
-
...:::bella:::...
originally started as an attempt to collect words I found visually and auditorially beautiful, as well as psychically evocative, this has become nothing more than a grab bag of word curiosities, a ...
bergamot, jambalaya, bee's knees, heliotrope, hosanna, gamboge, aureole, filial, madrigal, multilingual, sacrosanct, sojourn and 1072 more...
-
neologisms I like
nimrod, snarky, painbow, interrobang, hoser, kooky, craptastic, preggers, asshat, brainiac, shoegaze, skanker-sore and 146 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for kleptocracy.

avivamagnolia
~ a political regime whose members make flagrantly dishonest use of their official position for personal gain
Related Forms:
* kleptocrat klep′·to·crat′ (-tə krat′) noun
* kleptocratic klep′·to·crat′ic adjective
Usage Examples
* Lord Black accused of running a "corporate kleptocracy." Jan 18, 2009
skipvia Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
-Woody Guthrie, Pretty Boy Floyd Oct 31, 2007
reesetee I agree. Not enough people are stealing it. Aug 27, 2007
uselessness This word needs more popularity. Seriously. Aug 26, 2007
palooka "A government characterized by rampant greed and corruption." per the American Heritage Dictionary. Also kleptocratic & kleptocrat. Jan 28, 2007