Definition of Aristocracy

1. Noun. A privileged class holding hereditary titles.

Exact synonyms: Nobility
Generic synonyms: Elite, Elite Group
Specialized synonyms: Noblesse, Baronage, Peerage, Baronetage, Knighthood, Samurai
Specialized synonyms: Ferdinand And Isabella, William And Mary
Member holonyms: Aristocrat, Blue Blood, Patrician
Derivative terms: Aristocratic, Noble

2. Noun. The most powerful members of a society.
Exact synonyms: Gentry
Generic synonyms: Upper Class, Upper Crust
Specialized synonyms: Landed Gentry, Squirearchy
Derivative terms: Aristocratic

Definition of Aristocracy

1. n. Government by the best citizens.

Definition of Aristocracy

1. Noun. The nobility, or the hereditary ruling class ¹

2. Noun. Government by such a class, or a state with such a government ¹

3. Noun. A class of people considered (not normally universally) superior to others ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Aristocracy

1. [n -CIES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Aristocracy

arish
arishes
arishth
arising
arisings
arist
arista
aristae
aristarainite
aristarchies
aristarchy
aristas
aristate
aristo
aristocracies
aristocracy (current term)
aristocrat
aristocratic
aristocratical
aristocratically
aristocraticalness
aristocratick
aristocraticness
aristocratisation
aristocratism
aristocratization
aristocrats
aristolochene synthase
aristolochic
aristolochic acid

Literary usage of Aristocracy

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political by John Joseph Lalor (1883)
"aristocracy creates a political class devoted by occupation from youth to the ... Many faults of an aristocracy border closely upon its good qualities; ..."

2. The American Democrat, Or, Hints on the Social and Civic Relations of the by James Fenimore Cooper (1838)
"aristocracy has, in common with monarchy, the evils of an expenditure that ... This is one of the worst features of an aristocracy, a system that has shown ..."

3. Lectures on Jurisprudence, Or, The Philosophy of Positive Law by John Austin (1885)
"In case that sovereign portion consists of a number of members, the supreme government may be styled an aristocracy (in the generic meaning of the ..."

4. New Viewpoints in American History by Arthur Meier Schlesinger (1922)
"CHAPTER IV THE DECLINE OF aristocracy IN AMERICA aristocracy is something more than a form of governmental organization. It is an outlook on life that ..."

5. A History of Rome by Robert Fowler Leighton (1880)
"The aristocracy Humbled.—We have already spoken of the measures of Augustus to ... The former powers and privileges of the aristocracy he took to himself, ..."

6. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Henry Reeve (1875)
"THAT aristocracy MAY BE ENGENDERED BY MANUFACTURES. I HAVE shown that democracy is favourable to the growth of manufactures, and that it increases ..."

7. Handy-book of Literary Curiosities by William Shepard Walsh (1892)
"Be aristocracy the only joy : Let commerce perish, let the world expire. ... It has sometimes been alleged that the nobility and landed aristocracy are ..."

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