Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives



Sep 2, 2025
This week’s theme
Words made with combining forms

This week’s words
theomachy
kleptocrat
thanatophobia
euryphagous
uranomania

kleptocrat
From Harper’s Weekly, Oct 21, 1871
Cartoon: Thomas Nas

Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

kleptocrat

PRONUNCIATION:
(KLEP-tuh-krat)

MEANING:
noun: A politician or an official who uses their position to enrich themselves.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek klepto- (theft) + -crat (ruler). Earliest documented use: 1892. See also kleptocracy.

USAGE:
“It was then that Jacob Zuma began his nine-year reign as president, during which time the thuggish kleptocrat and his cronies ransacked state-owned enterprises, plundered local and provincial governments, and ravaged the law-enforcement institutions set up to curb such looting.”
Saving the Nation; The Economist (London, UK); Apr 27, 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity. -Paul Bourget, novelist (2 Sep 1852-1935)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith