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This week’s theme
A change of character: Act I

This week’s words
idiocracy


Previous week’s theme
Words with scene-stealing examples

Wordsmith Games

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-dee-AH-kruh-see)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Government by idiots.
2. A society governed or populated by idiots.

ETYMOLOGY:

A blend of idiot and -ocracy (rule or government). Earliest documented use in this sense: 1967.

NOTES:

In the 2006 film Idiocracy, two people are placed in suspended animation as part of a secret military experiment. Forgotten, they awaken in 2505 to find that society has grown spectacularly less intelligent. Idiocracy: Where the lowest common denominator becomes the gold standard.

USAGE:

Tara Setmayer: “It’s idiocracy at its height right here. I mean, when I saw the pictures of them literally pouring hydrogen peroxide into this, I just was like, oh my God. You know, this is what happens when you fire all the scientists and like the environmental experts and just say, ‘I want a reflecting pool.’”
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip (New York); Jun 16, 2026.

“We are sprinting toward idiocracy, eyes glued to a screen.”
Kara Kennedy; The Death of Reading Is a Civilisational Catastrophe; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Aug 22, 2025.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: