oligarchy

plural oligarchies

1. countableuncountableA government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates.

   Despite the involvement of all classes of society, America's political duopoly and the importance of money to mass-market campaigning has established an oligarchy that is seldom responsive to the citizenry as a whole, when opposed to the wealthy or major interest groups.

   3 more examples

   It's an oligarchy because these families own and run almost everything that makes money in El Salvador. Coffee gave birth to the oligarchy in the late 19th century, and economic growth has revolved around them ever since.

   1981 September 6, “The Eclipse of the Oligarchs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2022

   The Itasca Project is just one example of existing oligarchy, and a surprisingly open one at that.

   2016 January 17, Malcolm Harris, “Wealthy cabals run America”, in Al Jazeera America, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2017, retrieved 18 Jan 2016

   Together, we will usher in a generation of change. And if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves.

   2025 November 5, Zohran Mamdani, “The Full Transcript of Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Speech”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Nov 2025

2. countableuncountableA state ruled by such a government.

   The 1832 Reform Act aimed to transform the British oligarchy and allow Parliament to represent the interests of a broader range of the population.

3. countableuncountableThose who make up an oligarchic government.

   The modern British oligarchy—particularly during periods of Tory rule—has been called a chumocracy.