idiocracy
/ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/
"idiocracy" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“idiocracy” is an uncommon English word, ranked #94,977 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #94,977
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A government run by idiots.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | idiocracy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #94,977 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “idiocracy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for idiocracy is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/. Corpus data places it at rank #94,977 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for idiocracy, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From idiot + -cracy. The word was coined by the writers of a 2006 movie about the topic, which some have interpreted as presaging, through caricature, the state of the world. The correct English form is idiocracy, spelled I-D-I-O-C-R-A-C-Y.
Definition
- 1A government run by idiots.
- 2A society where idiocy is the norm, often denoting the current state of the world.
Etymology
From idiot + -cracy. The word was coined by the writers of a 2006 movie about the topic, which some have interpreted as presaging, through caricature, the state of the world.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “idiocracy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-D-I-O-C-R-A-C-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.