idiocracy
/ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/
"idiocracy" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“idiocracy” is uncommon English (frequency #94,977 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,977
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A government run by idiots.
Corpus desk
Index EN-idiocracy · idiocracy · English
idiocracy · rank #94,977 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #94,977
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH icehouse
Nearest frequency peer: icehouse (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “idiocracy”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- HVE
HVE
5,031 corpus weight
- hydrophone
hydrophone
5,029 corpus weight
- hydroquinone
hydroquinone
5,028 corpus weight
- icehouse
icehouse
5,025 corpus weight
- idiocracy
idiocracy
5,024 corpus weight
- Iftikhar
Iftikhar
5,022 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “idiocracy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| 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) |
Long-tail rank of “idiocracy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
idiocracy is uncommon English at frequency #94,977 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɪdiˈɒkɹəsi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how idiocracy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
In trying to explain why our political paralysis seems to have gotten so much worse over the past year, analysts have rounded up a plausible collection of reasons including: President Obama's tactical missteps, the obstinacy of congressional Republicans, rising partisanship in Washington, the blustering idiocracy of the cable-news stations, and the Senate…
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "idiocracy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).