kakistocracy
weak government
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
“KAKISTOCRACY is one of those words so seldom heard that it might be taken to represent something that never existed. [. . .] It means “a government by the worst men.” [. . .] The purpose of this paper is to highlight our kakistocratic tendencies and to offer a few thoughts as to how they can be halted and reversed."
Leonard E. Read — The Foundation for Economic Education
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"KAKISTOCRACY, A 374-Year-Old Word, Goes Viral After Tweet Slams Trump. The word gained traction when former CIA director John O. Brennan tweeted at President Donald Trump: ‘Your KAKISTOCRACY is collapsing after its lamentable journey’.”
Avi Selk — The Washington Post
Did you
know?
kakistocracy
noun
- a state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens
Oxford Languages
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WORD ORIGIN
“Kakistocracy” meaning ”government by the worst element of a society”, was coined by Thomas Love Peacock in 1829.
Based on analogy of its opposite, “aristocracy”, from Greek kakistos "worst”, superlative of kakos "bad" + -cracy.
Perhaps the closest word in ancient Greek was kakonomia "a bad system of laws and government" hence kakonomos "with bad laws, ill-governed”, also from 1829.
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FORGOTTEN VOCABULARY!
Perhaps we should also revive these other useful words from the past:
- apricity (17th century) = the warmth of the sun in winter.
- duffifie (19th century) = to lay a bottle on its side — after drinking its contents — to collect the few remaining drops, which can then be poured (or dribbled) into a glass.
- fudgel (18th century) = pretending to work while actually doing nothing.
- lethologica (early 20th century) = when you cannot recall the precise word for something.
- lanspresado (18th century) = someone who always conveniently shows up with no money.
- librocubicularist (mid 20th century) = a person who reads books in bed.
- moonglade (19th century) = the reflection the full moon makes on the water.
- namelings (19th century) = two or more persons that have the same name.
- nibling (mid 20th century) = a non-gender word for niece or nephew (like sibling).
- petrichor (mid 20th century) = the smell of the earth after rain.
- psithurism (19th century) = the sound of rustling leaves or wind in the trees.
- scurryfunge (18th century) = to rush around cleaning when visitors are on their way over.
- zenosyne* = the sense that time keeps going faster.
*Coined in 2012 by John Koenig in “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows”, a project to create a compendium of invented words for every emotion we might all experience but don’t yet have a word for.
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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:
“How appropriate is the word KAKISTOCRACY to what is happening in the world today!”
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THANKS to Jenny for suggesting today’s OWAD.
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