Meanings
- historicaluncountableGovernment by an assembly of citizens in Ancient Greece.
- uncountableRule by spectators in a theater.
1 more example
And by composing such licentious works, and adding to them words as licentious, they [the poets] have inspired the multitude with lawlessness and boldness, and made them fancy that they can judge for themselves about melody and song. And in this way the theatres from being mute have become vocal, as though they had understanding of good and bad in music and poetry; and instead of an aristocracy, an evil sort of theatrocracy has grown up.
1892, “Book III”, in Benjamin Jowett, transl., Laws, translation of original by Plato
Origin
- Ancient Greekθεᾱτρο-κρᾰτίᾱ
- Englishtheatrocracy
From Ancient Greek θεᾱτρο-κρᾰτίᾱ (theātro-krătíā, literally “theatre rule”) or θεᾱτρο-κορασίᾱ (theātro-korasíā).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
theatrocracy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theatrocracy
“theatrocracy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theatrocracy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “theatrocracy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/theatrocracy.
Source: theatrocracy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.