kakistocracy
English
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kakistocracy
- /kækɪsˈtɒkɹəsi/ UK
- /kækɪsˈtɑkɹəsi/ US
Where it comes from
From Ancient Greek κάκιστος (kákistos, “worst”), superlative of κακός (kakós, “bad”) + -κρατία (-kratía, “power, rule, government”) (corresponding to -cracy). The word was used, perhaps re-coined, by the English author Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) in his 1829 novella The Misfortunes of Elphin as the opposite of aristocracy (see second quotation).
noun kakistocracies · cacistocracy
- Government under the control of a nation's worst or least-qualified citizens. Therefore we need not make any scruple of praying against […] those restlesse spirits who can no longer live, then be stickling and medling; who are stung with a perpetuall itch of changing and innovating, transforming our old Hierarchy into a new Presbytery, and this againe into a newer Independenc
Translations
Every language
noun government by the worst citizens
| Español | cacocracia, caquistocracia |
|---|---|
| Português | caquistocracia |
| Français | kakistocratie |
| Deutsch | Kakistokratie |
| Italiano | cachistocrazia |
| Ελληνικά | κακιστοκρατία kakistokratía |
| Русский | какистокра́тия kakistokrátija |
Talk about this word "kakistocracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kakistocracy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. kakistocracy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kakistocracy "kakistocracy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kakistocracy.Cite this
@misc{kakistocracy_2026,
title = {kakistocracy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kakistocracy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
