corridors of power

noun

The buildings and offices that powerful people, especially politicians, are visualised as inhabiting; (by extension) the highest tiers of government or other organisation, where important decisions are made.

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Meanings

nouncorridors of power pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyThe buildings and offices that powerful people, especially politicians, are visualised as inhabiting; (by extension) the highest tiers of government or other organisation, where important decisions are made.

    The official world, the corridors of power, the dilemmas of conscience and egotism—she disliked them all.

    1956, C. P. Snow, chapter 22, in Homecomings (Strangers and Brothers)
    3 more examples

    When angry construction workers seeking unpaid wages stormed a site office in Yau Tong in July 2002, their violent clash with the police set alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power.

    2011, Alvin Y. So, “The Development of Post-Modernist Social Movements”, in Jeffrey Broadbent, Vicky Brockman, editors, East Asian Social Movements: Power, Protest, and Change in a Dynamic Region (Social Sciences / Sociology), Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 370

    The “data revolution” is the idea of the moment, and it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t think that more money, innovation and effort should be poured into counting and measuring, and that more open data can help to unlock the corridors of power.

    2014 October 1, Claire Melamed, “The data revolution is coming and it will unlock the corridors of power”, in The Guardian

    He is a supposedly serious young man who was celebrated in the corridors of power not only as a financial savant but also—through his highly publicized philanthropy and conspicuous association with the “effective altruism” movement—as a moral genius.

    2023 January 25, Thomas Chatterton Williams, “The People Who Don’t Read Books”, in The Atlantic

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
halls of power

Origin

Popularized by C. P. Snow in Homecomings (1956) and Corridors of Power (1964).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish vallan käytävät
  • vallan käytävätTranslations
French avenues du pouvoir, allées du pouvoir
  • avenues du pouvoirTranslations
  • allées du pouvoirTranslations
  • hautes sphèresTranslations
Indonesian koridor kekuasaan
  • koridor kekuasaanTranslations
Malay anjung kuasa, lorong kuasa ruang
  • anjung kuasaTranslations
  • lorong kuasa ruangTranslations
  • pusat kekuasaanTranslations
Polish kuluary władzy
  • kuluary władzyTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

corridors of power. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corridors%20of%20power

MLA

“corridors of power.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corridors%20of%20power. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “corridors of power,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corridors%20of%20power.

Source: corridors of power on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.