meritocracy

noun

mer·​i·​toc·​ra·​cy ˌmer-ə-ˈtä-krə-sē 

plural meritocracies

: 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

meritocratic

ˌmer-ə-tə-ˈkra-tik 

adjective

Examples of meritocracy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a classic study, management professors Emilio Castilla and Stephen Benard found these biases were especially pronounced in companies that prided themselves on being meritocracies. —Adia Harvey Wingfield, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025

This is an industry that really is all about meritocracy. —Catherine Muccigrosso, Charlotte Observer, 25 June 2025

In a true act of meritocracy, Universal went on to hire Mattison and Carey (obviously). —Dave Quinn, People.com, 27 May 2025

Social mobility is central to the concept of meritocracy. —Laura Clawson, JSTOR Daily, 25 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

merit entry 1 + -o- + -cracy

Note: The neologism meritocracy was apparently first used in print by the British industrial sociologist Alan Fox (1920-2002) in the article "Class and Equality," Socialist Commentary, May, 1956, pp. 11-13. The word is now closely associated with the book The Rise of the Meritocracy (London: Thames & Hudson, 1958) by the sociologist and politician Michael Young (1915-2002), who is often credited with its coinage.

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for meritocracy

• aristocracy
• autocracy
• bureaucracy
• democracy
• hypocrisy
• plutocracy
• theocracy