First published 2018 More entries for "idiocracy"
idiocracynoun2
Factsheet
What does the noun idiocracy mean?
There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun idiocracy. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the noun idiocracy?
Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English
| Oct.–Dec. 2017 | 0.0038 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2018 | 0.006 |
| Apr.–June 2018 | 0.0061 |
| July–Sept. 2018 | 0.0059 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2018 | 0.0069 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2019 | 0.0096 |
| Apr.–June 2019 | 0.01 |
| July–Sept. 2019 | 0.011 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2019 | 0.01 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2020 | 0.011 |
| Apr.–June 2020 | 0.012 |
| July–Sept. 2020 | 0.012 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2020 | 0.01 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2021 | 0.0099 |
| Apr.–June 2021 | 0.01 |
| July–Sept. 2021 | 0.0094 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2021 | 0.0081 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2022 | 0.0078 |
| Apr.–June 2022 | 0.0085 |
| July–Sept. 2022 | 0.0085 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2022 | 0.0083 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2023 | 0.0083 |
How is the noun idiocracy pronounced?
British English
/ˌɪdɪˈɒkrəsi/
id-ee-OK-ruh-see
U.S. English
/ˌɪdiˈɑkrəsi/
id-ee-AH-kruh-see
Where does the noun idiocracy come from?
Earliest known use
1960s
The earliest known use of the noun idiocracy is in the 1960s.
OED's earliest evidence for idiocracy is from 1967, in the writing of Edmund Wilson.
idiocracy is formed within English, by blending.
Etymons: idiot n., ‑ocracy comb. form.
Nearby entries
- idigbo, n.1942–
- -idin, suffix
- -idine, suffix
- idio-, comb. form
- idioblast, n.1882–
- idioblastic, adj.1908–
- idiochromatic, adj.1849–
- idiochromatin, n.1909–
- idiochromosome, n.1905–
- idiocracy, n.¹1878
- idiocracy, n.²1967–
- idiocrasy, n.1653–
- idiocratic, adj.1789–
- idiocratical, adj.1727–
- idiocy, n.1528–
- idiocyclophanous, adj.a1830–90
- idiodinic, adj.1883–85
- idio-electric, adj. & n.1784–
- idioglossia, n.1891–
- idioglottic, adj.1888–
- idiogonaduct, n.1883
Etymology
Blend of idiot n. and ‑ocracy comb. form.Compare earlier idiocracy n.1 (in a different sense), and ideocracy n.…
Blend of idiot n. and ‑ocracy comb. form. Compare earlier idiocracy n.1 (in a different sense), and ideocracy n.
Notes
In later used popularized by the title of the film Idiocracy (2006), directed by Ecuadorean-born American actor, writer, and film-maker Mike Judge (b. 1962), a dystopian satire in which the human race has become extremely stupid, ignorant, and anti-intellectual. Compare the following earlier uses of the compound idiotocracy:
- 1909
Our children would be brought up to believe that an Idiotocracy is the only natural and rational form of government.
A. Bierce, Shadow on Dial 211 - 1920
It is impossible to reconcile liberty with despotism, Democracy with idiotocracy.
New Russia vol. 3 482
Meaning & use
Contents
rare before 21st cent. Frequently humorous.
- 1967–A society consisting of or governed by idiots (or people characterized as idiots); (also) a government or ruling body formed of people considered stupid, ignorant, or idiotic. Also as a mass noun: society or government of this kind.
- 1967
Somebody should curb the great American idiocracy (a word I think I invented) which makes men wear hotter-than-hell ties, jackets and strangling tuxedo outfits in the summer.
E. Wilson in Delaware County (Pennsylvania) Daily Times 2 August 35/2 - 1992
It only takes one idiot to make an idiocracy.
I. Castuera, Dreams on Fire 14 - 2008
Farewell the age of reason, welcome the idiocracy.
Guardian 16 April 31/2 - 2017
If we don't call out ignorance and misinformation,..we'll find ourselves living in an idiocracy, not a democracy.
Cairns Post (Australia) (Nexis) 13 March 16
- foolocracy1832–Government by fools; (also) an instance of this.
- idiocracy1967–A society consisting of or governed by idiots (or people characterized as idiots); (also) a government or ruling body formed of people considered…
Pronunciation
British English
/ˌɪdɪˈɒkrəsi/
id-ee-OK-ruh-see
U.S. English
/ˌɪdiˈɑkrəsi/
id-ee-AH-kruh-see
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛtl/ but <petally> /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in <bitter>
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence <petal> /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but <petally> /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Frequency
idiocracy typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
idiocracy is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
Frequency of idiocracy, n.², 1960–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 0.0004 |
| 1970 | 0.0004 |
| 1980 | 0.0004 |
| 1990 | 0.0004 |
| 2000 | 0.0004 |
| 2010 | 0.0004 |
Frequency of idiocracy, n.², 2017–2023
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.
| Period | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| Oct.–Dec. 2017 | 0.0038 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2018 | 0.006 |
| Apr.–June 2018 | 0.0061 |
| July–Sept. 2018 | 0.0059 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2018 | 0.0069 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2019 | 0.0096 |
| Apr.–June 2019 | 0.01 |
| July–Sept. 2019 | 0.011 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2019 | 0.01 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2020 | 0.011 |
| Apr.–June 2020 | 0.012 |
| July–Sept. 2020 | 0.012 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2020 | 0.01 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2021 | 0.0099 |
| Apr.–June 2021 | 0.01 |
| July–Sept. 2021 | 0.0094 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2021 | 0.0081 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2022 | 0.0078 |
| Apr.–June 2022 | 0.0085 |
| July–Sept. 2022 | 0.0085 |
| Oct.–Dec. 2022 | 0.0083 |
| Jan.–Mar. 2023 | 0.0083 |
Entry history for idiocracy, n.²
idiocracy, n.² was first published in September 2018.
idiocracy, n.² was last modified in July 2023.
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into idiocracy, n.² in July 2023.
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Chicago
Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “,” , .
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MLA9
“” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, , .
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Citation details
Factsheet for idiocracy, n.²
Browse entry
Nearby entries
- idigbo, n.1942–
- -idin, suffix
- -idine, suffix
- idio-, comb. form
- idioblast, n.1882–
- idioblastic, adj.1908–
- idiochromatic, adj.1849–
- idiochromatin, n.1909–
- idiochromosome, n.1905–
- idiocracy, n.¹1878
- idiocracy, n.²1967–
- idiocrasy, n.1653–
- idiocratic, adj.1789–
- idiocratical, adj.1727–
- idiocy, n.1528–
- idiocyclophanous, adj.a1830–90
- idiodinic, adj.1883–85
- idio-electric, adj. & n.1784–
- idioglossia, n.1891–
- idioglottic, adj.1888–
- idiogonaduct, n.1883
