plutocracy
noun
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Ploutos was Greek for "wealth", and Plouton, or Pluto, was one of the names used for the Greek god of the underworld, where all the earth's mineral wealth was stored. So a plutocracy governs or wields power through its money. The economic growth in the U.S. in the late 19th century produced a group of enormously wealthy plutocrats. Huge companies like John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil gained serious political power, and Rockefeller was able to influence lawmakers in states where his businesses operated. For this reason, it was said in 1905 that Ohio and New Jersey were plutocracies, not democracies.
Examples of plutocracy in a Sentence
Alexander Heffner, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2025
All the pageantry and plutocracy distract from the strategic reality that the United States today is in a powerful position, perhaps unprecedented in recent times, to influence Middle East political developments..
Russia has a long history of influential involvement in the region, especially Syria.
—Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 20 May 2025
The turn toward market liberalization around 1980 unleashed a second wave of plutocracy.
—Daniel Waldenstrom, Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2025
The potent and volatile combination of high capital and popular radicalism, plutocracy and populism, characteristic of the American Right is a heritage of the global political and economic turmoil of the 1930s.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 16 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for plutocracy
Cite this Entry
“Plutocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plutocracy. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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plutocracy
noun
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