1
as in cliques
a small group of people who exercise control over a country, business, etc.
Critics complain that the government is now dominated by an oligarchy of wealthy businesspeople.
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2
as in empires
government that is controlled by a small group of people
The nation was an oligarchy with election results manipulated to maintain a permanent ruling class.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oligarchies
Noun
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At the Dallas Street property, small cliques of armed men, mostly Venezuelans and Mexicans, fought an ongoing turf war.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025 -
And there's hierarchy and cliques and clubs and all these different things.—
H. Alan Scott
Jennifer Cunningham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Their empires cracked, their shadows receded, and their names faded into cautionary tales.—
John Hope Bryant,
Time,
6 Sep. 2025
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Writers and rulers across Europe and the Americas have looked back to Virgil’s epic as a model for their own founding myths, in the construction of new nations, new colonies, new empires.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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When completed, the delivery of the HIMARS to Manama will augment an already impressive array of multiple rocket launch systems in the military arsenals of the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
19 Aug. 2025
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The efforts for a new ceasefire have the backing of major Arab Gulf monarchies, according to two officials who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Oligarchies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oligarchies. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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