meritocracy

mer·i·toc·ra·cy | \ ˌmer-ə-ˈtä-krə-sē

plural meritocracies

Definition of meritocracy

: a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit (see merit entry 1 sense 1b) Only the elite, in that new meritocracy, would enjoy the opportunity for self-fulfillment …— Robert Penn Warren Though founded theoretically on principles of meritocracy, the public arena was parceled into spheres of personal influence …— Mac Margolis A paradox lies at the heart of this new American meritocracy. Merit has replaced the old system of inherited privilege … . But merit, it turns out, is at least partly class-based. Parents with money, education and connections cultivate in their children the habits that the meritocracy rewards.— Janny Scott et al. also : the people who are moved into such positions a member of the meritocracy France remains a tightly centralized nation, run by a governmental and business meritocracy carefully prepared for positions of power in elite graduate schools. — Jim Hoagland

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Examples of meritocracy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web One striking innovation of modern meritocracy is the teen-age executive. — Marella Gayla, The New Yorker, "Is Every Ambitious Teen-ager a “Founder and C.E.O.”?," 28 Dec. 2020 For Sandel, this deviation from egalitarian principles amounts to sneaking the concept of meritocracy into the mix. — Win Mccormack, The New Republic, "Meritocracy on Trial," 23 Dec. 2020 Or will the meritocracy seen in the 2020 offense hold up as the new norm? — Nathan Baird, cleveland, "What Emeka Egbuka’s commitment means for Ohio State football: Buckeye recruiting," 12 Dec. 2020 The notion of a meritocracy – a society in which individual hard work could overcome global economic forces – has been tested to its limit this year. — Vicky Spratt, refinery29.com, "Is Ambition Dead?," 4 Dec. 2020 In overlooking the many forms that meritocracy takes, Sandel perpetuates the myth that vocational education is a dead end. — New York Times, "Meritocracy, Silicon Valley and Other Letters to the Editor," 4 Dec. 2020 What feels ruthless today, then, isn’t the character but the context: the pretense of American liberty and meritocracy. — Megan O’grady, New York Times, "How ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ Foretold Our Era of Grifting," 12 Nov. 2020 The initiative would overturn a ban that its supporters say has created a color-blind meritocracy in California and critics argue has prevented the state from eliminating obstacles that hold back women and people of color. — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, "Prop. 16: Voters rejecting a measure to restore affirmative action in government agencies and public universities," 4 Nov. 2020 Around the world right now, China is really beating up the U.S. and advancing their vision of meritocracy over democracy, their vision of human rights versus the American vision of human rights, and maligning the U.S. about covid-19 response. — CBS News, "Former FBI special agent analyzes election threat posed by Russia, China and Iran," 28 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'meritocracy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.