A.Word.A.Day --chumocracy

A.Word.A.Day

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Aug 28, 2026

This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
solivagant
hyperphagia
ophidiophobia
obganiate
chumocracy

“General Grant: Don’t be troubled if a few fellows do decline. Here are some friends of mine who never refuse office.”
Ulysses S. Grant recommending to President Chester A. Arthur some “friends” of his as political appointees; all the men shown were involved in scandals during Grant’s administration.

Cartoon: Bernhard Gillam in Puck, Nov 1881

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

chumocracy

PRONUNCIATION:

(chum-AH-kruh-see)

MEANING:

noun: A government, organization, or culture in which friends and associates are favored, especially in appointments to positions of authority.

ETYMOLOGY:

From chum (friend) + -ocracy (rule). Chum is of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortening and alteration of chamber fellow or chamber mate. Earliest documented use: 1937.

NOTES:

Chumocracy is for friends, nepotism usually refers specifically to favoritism toward relatives. In a chumocracy, the org chart doubles as a holiday-card list.

USAGE:

“Sports governance can be a chumocracy at best; outright corrupt at worst.”
A Cloud of Suspicion; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 17, 2021.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher (28 Aug 1749-1832)

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