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

This week’s words
neophobia
apanthropy
stultiloquy
argentocracy
squandermania

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ahr-juhn-TOK-ruh-see)

MEANING:

noun:
1. Rule by the wealthy.
2. Undue influence of money.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin argentum (silver) + Greek -cracy (rule). Earliest documented use: 1868. Some synonyms are chrysocracy (literally, gold rule) and plutocracy.

NOTES:

See the article “Why Do the Rich Have So Much Power?” (permalink) by Nobel laureate Paul Krugman.

USAGE:

“The game was fostered by the argentocracy of Baltimore. Players who practiced ... were ‘sons of wealthy merchants.’”
John McPhee; Silk Parachute; Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: