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
-
Tamale, an important trading hub in northern Ghana, is known for its fugu clothing, a type of smock with roots in the Malian and Songhai empires.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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The robber barons and telecom wildcatters borrowed to build their empires, and dragged their financiers down with them when the music stopped.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Kuti was an outspoken critic of Nigeria’s military juntas in the 1970s.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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No more communism, or fascism; no more theocracy, or monarchies.—
Richard Stengel,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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America’s most steadfast allies in this bit of the 21st century are the Gulf monarchies, true and unapologetic kingdoms big on pomp and light on participation.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
29 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Oligarchies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oligarchies. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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