Chumocracy

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A form of oligarchy: government characterised by nepotism and the frequent appointment to public office of friends or those of similar social background to those in power. UK, countable, uncountable

    "How thrilling it would have been[…] if [Sadiq] Khan had denounced the [Thames garden] bridge in every way: […] as a symbol of the chummery – the chumocracy, even – that so offends the democratic and egalitarian traditions he is proud to represent."

Example

More examples

"How thrilling it would have been[…] if [Sadiq] Khan had denounced the [Thames garden] bridge in every way: […] as a symbol of the chummery – the chumocracy, even – that so offends the democratic and egalitarian traditions he is proud to represent."

Etymology

From chum + -ocracy.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.