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Sep 14, 2011
This week's theme
Words made with combining forms

This week's words
iridescent
heterodox
kleptocracy
polymath
necropolis

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

kleptocracy

PRONUNCIATION:
(klep-TOK-ruh-see)

MEANING:
noun: A government by the corrupt in which rulers use their official positions for personal gain.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek klepto-, from kleptes (thief) + -cracy (rule). Earliest documented use: 1819.

USAGE:
"Mubarak was the leader of a brutal dictatorship and kleptocracy. He enriched himself and his family and friends at the expense of the people."
A Trial Tyrants Will Heed; Winnipeg Free Press (Canada); Aug 4, 2011.

See more usage examples of kleptocracy in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. -Nelson Mandela, activist, South African president, Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1918)

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