Meanings
plural idiocracies
- countablehumorousuncountablegovernmentA government run by idiots.
1 more example
In trying to explain why our political paralysis seems to have gotten so much worse over the past year, analysts have rounded up a plausible collection of reasons including: President Obama's tactical missteps, the obstinacy of congressional Republicans, rising partisanship in Washington, the blustering idiocracy of the cable-news stations, and the Senate filibuster, which has devolved into a super-majority threshold for any important legislation.
2010 February 6, Jacob Weisberg, “Down With the People”, in Slate, archived from the original on 28 Jun 2019
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Englishidiot
- Proto-Indo-European*kret-
- Ancient Greekκρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
- Englishidiocracy
From idiot + -cracy. The word was coined by the writers of a 2006 movie about the topic, which some have interpreted as presaging, through caricature, the state of the world.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French idiocratie
- idiocratiegovernment by idiots
Portuguese idiocracia
- idiocraciagovernment by idiots
Russian идиократия
- идиократия (idiokratija)government by idiots
Spanish idiocracia
- idiocraciagovernment by idiots
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with idiocracy
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
idiocracy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiocracy
“idiocracy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiocracy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idiocracy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idiocracy.
Source: idiocracy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.