technocrat

noun tech·no·crat \ ˈtek-nə-ˌkrat \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of technocrat

1 : an adherent of technocracy

2 : a technical expert; especially : one exercising managerial authority

See technocrat defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of technocrat from the Web

Yi Gang, China’s new central banker, known as a technocrat, mentioned the party five times in his speech.

— The Economist, "China’s Communist Party meets the world," 28 Mar. 2018
The collegial-style rule of technocrats encouraged the establishment of lasting institutions, with term limits for the leader himself buttressing everything.

— robert d. kaplan, WSJ, "How Russia and China Could Come Unhinged," 23 Mar. 2018
What are the odds that a group of nonpolitical technocrats could do a better job of reforming the tax code?

— alan s. blinder, The New Republic, "An economist’s view of the American political process," 22 Mar. 2018
Kolesnikov said that Putin presides over a court system with competing factions that include liberal technocrats and the hawkish siloviki -- veterans of the security services who occupy key positions in the government.

— nathan hodge, CNN, "Will Vladimir Putin ever release his grip on Russia?," 18 Mar. 2018
But most evidence suggests that the vast majority of Facebook employees are just regular slightly left of center technocrats who were rooting for Hillary Clinton.

— alexis c. madrigal, The Atlantic, "Why Donald Trump Was the 'Perfect Candidate' for Facebook," 26 Feb. 2018
The Republican has staked much of his reputation as a Mr. Fix-It technocrat on dragging the metropolitan Boston area’s creaking subway, bus and commuter rail system into the 21st century.

— steve leblanc, The Seattle Times, "Transit issues could help, haunt Gov. Baker’s election hopes," 24 Feb. 2018
That ascent marked a fundamental shift for the ANC, away from Mandela the peacemaker and Mbeki the technocrat — and toward Zuma, a traditionalist whose popularity was concentrated in the populous rural province of KwaZulu-Natal.

— kevin sieff, Washington Post, "Ruling party’s demand for Zuma’s resignation deepens uncertainty in South Africa," 13 Feb. 2018
But many of the young technocrats have found themselves in a daily struggle against long-entrenched patronage systems.

— mujib mashal, New York Times, "Cutting Into Afghan Patronage: A Struggle to Make Government Younger," 9 Jan. 2018

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

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.