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kleptocracy

[ klep-tok-ruh-see ]

noun

, plural klep·toc·ra·cies.
  1. a government or state in which those in power exploit national resources and steal; rule by a thief or thieves.


kleptocracy

/ ˌklɛpˈtɒkrəsɪ /

noun

  1. informal.
    a government where officials are politically corrupt and financially self-interested
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Other Words From

  • klep·to·crat [klep, -t, uh, -krat], noun
  • klep·to·crat·ic [klep-t, uh, -, krat, -ik], adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of kleptocracy1

1815–20; klepto- (combining form of Greek kléptēs thief) + -cracy
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Word History and Origins

Origin of kleptocracy1

C20: from klepto ( mania ) + -cracy
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Example Sentences

Proceeds from its North Sea drilling rigs will insure corruption and kleptocracy on a Nigerian scale.

How about staging large-scale NATO military maneuvers at the border and freezing the assets of the kleptocracy?

Indeed, a condition of rampant, endemic political corruption is known as a “kleptocracy”—literally, “rule by thieves.”

But no political parties are immune to the infection of kleptocracy in Ukraine.

For many dissidents, the video was clear-cut proof that Burma has become a military kleptocracy.

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kleptokleptocrat