ochlocrat

O1C3H4L1O1C3R1A1T1
UK/ˈɒkləkɹæt/

noun

An adherent of the principle of ochlocracy; an advocate of mob rule.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounochlocrat (plural ochlocrats)

plural ochlocrats

  1. An adherent of the principle of ochlocracy; an advocate of mob rule.

    But Lysias was an unabashed ‘ ochlocrat.’ He was at this time poor, and his citizenship was shown to be illegal almost as soon as it was granted.

    1897: Gilbert Murray, M.A., A history of ancient Greek literature, page 338 (D. Appleton and Company)
    2 more examples

    “You, Father, are an ochlocrat. No heresy in our time is more noxious than trying to implant ochlocracy in the Church. And that’s what you’re trying to do.”

    1993, Jorge Amado, translated by Gregory Rabassa, The War of the Saints, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 117, →ISBN

    ‘The people are as holy as the mob is unholy. A democract is one who wants government for the people and by the people. Someone who wants mob rule is called an “ochlocrat”.’ [from ochlos, Greek for ‘mass’, ‘mob’ (h.a.w.)] The three estates, the nobility, peasantry, and bourgeoisie, must have advisory and co-determinative political power in all issues and requirements of the country; the princes are to exercise executive authority ‘within boundaries established by the general laws of Germany’.³¹

    2006, Heinrich August Winkler, translated by Alexander Sager, Germany: The Long Road West, 1789–1933, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 59, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Englishochlo-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kret-
  3. Ancient Greekκρᾰ́τος (krắtos)
  4. Englishochlocrat

From ochlo- (“mob”) + -o- + -crat (“supporter of rule thereby”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ochlocrat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ochlocrat

MLA

“ochlocrat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ochlocrat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ochlocrat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ochlocrat.

Source: ochlocrat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.