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

This week’s words
misophonia
lawfare
gerontocracy
gamesmanship
phonophobia

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(jer-uhn-TOK-ruh-see)

MEANING:

noun: The system of government by old people.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek geronto- (old) + -cracy (rule). Earliest documented use: 1830. Note that the word senate is, literally, a council of elders, from Latin senex (old).

USAGE:

“For the third time in six years, the gerontocracy that is the Conservative party membership has selected the UK’s next prime minister. The party zealously guards the details of this rarefied selectorate but academics put the average age at 57, with just 6 per cent under the age of 25.”
Will Tanner; Voiceless Youth Should Worry an Ageing Tory Party; Financial Times (London, UK); Sep 6, 2022.

See more usage examples of gerontocracy in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: