plutocracy

/pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/

//pluːˈtɒkɹəsi// noun

"plutocracy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“plutocracy” is uncommon English (frequency #71,797 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#71,797
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Government by the wealthy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-plutocracy · plutocracy · English

plutocracy · rank #71,797 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #71,797
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 46,516
  • PHOTO-FINISH pluralist

Nearest frequency peer: pluralist (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “plutocracy”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “plutocracy” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026
Key facts for plutocracy
PropertyValue
Headwordplutocracy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/
Letters10
Frequency rank#71,797
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “plutocracy” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). plutocracy lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

plutocracy is uncommon English at frequency #71,797 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

plutocracy has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek πλουτοκρατία (ploutokratía, “rule of the wealthy”), from πλουτοκρατέω (ploutokratéō, “I rule through wealth”), from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “wealth”) + κρατέω (kratéō, “I rule”) (from κράτος (krátos, “power”, “might”)). The correct English form is plutocracy, spelled P-L-U-T-O-C-R-A-C-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Government by the wealthy.
  2. 2
    A controlling class of the wealthy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how plutocracy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Plutocracy, which is virtually supreme to-day, is to be no less condemned ; for it is not only not just, bit is nearly as detrimental to the race at large as absolute socialism would be, if adopted […]
  2. Modernity is not democracy; machinery is not democracy; the surrender of everything to trade and commerce is not democracy. Capitalism is not democracy; and is admittedly, by trend and savour, rather against democracy. Plutocracy by definition is not democracy. But all these modern things forced themselves into the world at about the time, or shortly afte…

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλουτοκρατία (ploutokratía, “rule of the wealthy”), from πλουτοκρατέω (ploutokratéō, “I rule through wealth”), from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “wealth”) + κρατέω (kratéō, “I rule”) (from κράτος (krátos, “power”, “might”)).

Synonyms

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "plutocracy"?
"plutocracy" is spelled P-L-U-T-O-C-R-A-C-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/.
What does "plutocracy" mean?
As a noun, "plutocracy" means: Government by the wealthy.
How do you pronounce "plutocracy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "plutocracy" is /pluːˈtɒkɹəsi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "plutocracy"?
From Ancient Greek πλουτοκρατία (ploutokratía, “rule of the wealthy”), from πλουτοκρατέω (ploutokratéō, “I rule through wealth”), from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “wealth”) + κρατέω (kratéō, “I rule”) (from κράτος (krátos, “power”, “might”)). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "plutocracy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list