technocrat
noun
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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
Taylor Luck, Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2025
Under the proposal, Gaza would be governed by a committee of independent professionals and technocrats for six months until the Palestinian Authority resumes control over the enclave.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 26 Mar. 2025
When Musk and other technocrats attempt to scale this approach to the sprawling, adaptive systems of nation-states and global society, its limitations become apparent.
—Dr. Alex Gold, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025
In three years, murders fell by around half in New York, other violent crimes also declined, and Bratton became the face of the new police chief: a technocrat who brought quants to law enforcement.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for technocrat
Cite this Entry
“Technocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technocrat. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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