Meaning of oligarchy in English
(Definition of oligarchy from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
oligarchy | American Dictionary
oligarchy | Business English
oligarchy
noun
GOVERNMENT, ECONOMICS uk
/ˈɒlɪɡɑːki/ us
plural oligarchiesThe real difference between oligarchy and democracy is wealth.
Examples of oligarchy
oligarchy
Socially, the marriage alliances of the oligarchy consolidated it as a homogenous, but peculiar group, distinct from both aristocracy and bourgeoisie.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Alternatively, a smaller subset of the citizens may be decisive, as in the case of an oligarchy or personalistic regime.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The persistent interweaving of ancien r'gime oligarchies and the institutions of diplomacy in the end shared the fate e of a decadent regime.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In this central period, the oligarchy was composed mainly of middleranking bureaucrats and servants of the king.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Only the ballots would be burned without being counted, and candidates would be selected by the oligarchy using its traditional undemocratic methods.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This is a social power born of political devolution, and it must have made oligarchy more acceptable.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
He lost the support of the core of the settler oligarchy but was unable to build a new political base.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The quality of the existing laws meant that the most important goal of any opponent of oligarchy was to restore their sovereignty.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The most distinct feature of this new oligarchy was its profound and multiple links to the crown.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The main problems reviewed here are the openness of this oligarchy and its nobiliary character.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Instead, the early colonial communities became fragmented, with oligarchies and tyrannies becoming the successful state forms.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Working the system, the society and each other in somewhat different ways, they emerged as part of the oligarchy their activity sustained and strengthened.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
By the midseventeenth century, the process of fusion of the new oligarchy was complete.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
On the contrary, the oligarchy had hoisted itself up into the ranks of titled nobility.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Because of the added complexity, slightly broader versions of oligarchy rule and conjunctive and even/odd decision rules are needed.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
