technocrat

noun

tech·​no·​crat ˈtek-nə-ˌkrat 

1

: an adherent of technocracy

2

: a technical expert

especially : one exercising managerial authority

Did you know?

In 1919 W. H. Smyth coined the term technocracy to mean basically "management of society by technical experts". Technocracy grew into a movement during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when politicians and financial institutions were being blamed for the economic disaster, and fans of technocracy claimed that letting technical experts manage the country would be a great improvement. (They also suggested that dollars could be replaced by "energy certificates" representing energy units called ergs.) Today technocrat and technocratic are still popular words for experts with a highly rational and scientific approach to public policy issues. But these experts aren't always the best politicians, and when a terrific technological solution to a problem is opposed by a powerful group or industry, lawmakers find it easier to just ignore it.

Examples of technocrat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The ideal person would be a neutral technocrat, highly skilled at building consensus and able to initiate unpopular actions. —Pierre Esperance, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2024

Medvedev was younger, more rational, a technocrat, but Putin was the guarantor of stability, one of the richest people in Russia in 2012 said in a private conversation. —Tribune News Service, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2024

Cummings is a Savonarola figure in British politics, an ascetic and a technocrat, who wants to save the state by burning it down. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

Another Russian technocrat, Mr. Putin’s chief economic adviser Maksim Oreshkin, 40, worked in the French bank Crédit Agricole and is fluent in English. —Anatoly Kurmanaev, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2023

And a team of agile technocrats were on hand to fend off a crisis. —Paul Sonne, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2024

If Haley were to prevail, Gallagher would be high in her list of must-hire technocrats. —TIME, 13 Feb. 2024

Zedillo, a lackluster technocrat, was elected president. —Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 31 Jan. 2024

Orban’s antics help polarize the conversation within his country, turning the opposition into would-be abettors of overweening foreign technocrats. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

techno- + -crat, after technocracy

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined at sense 1