meritocracy

noun

mer·​i·​toc·​ra·​cy ˌmer-ə-ˈtä-krə-sē How to pronounce meritocracy (audio)
plural meritocracies
: a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit (see merit entry 1 sense 1b)
Only the elite, in that new meritocracy, would enjoy the opportunity for self-fulfillment …Robert Penn Warren
Though founded theoretically on principles of meritocracy, the public arena was parceled into spheres of personal influence …Mac Margolis
A paradox lies at the heart of this new American meritocracy. Merit has replaced the old system of inherited privilege … . But merit, it turns out, is at least partly class-based. Parents with money, education and connections cultivate in their children the habits that the meritocracy rewards.Janny Scott et al.
also : the people who are moved into such positions
a member of the meritocracy
France remains a tightly centralized nation, run by a governmental and business meritocracy carefully prepared for positions of power in elite graduate schools. Jim Hoagland
meritocratic adjective

Examples of meritocracy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Artists had been sold the idea that streaming was the ultimate meritocracy—that the best would rise to the top because users voted by listening. Liz Pelly, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025 Despite idealized representations of sports as a meritocracy, racialized, gendered, classed, and ableist inequality and difference often drive who gets to be a part of unity engendered by sports. Tracie Canada / Made By History, TIME, 1 Jan. 2025 His Survival Arc Photo: Tim Roney/Getty Images Williams’s rise is a rare story of meritocracy at work. Emma Madden, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025 This non-exhaustive reading list discusses the origins of affirmative action, the question of race vs. class, and the effects of meritocracy. JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for meritocracy 

Word History

Etymology

merit entry 1 + -o- + -cracy

Note: The neologism meritocracy was apparently first used in print by the British industrial sociologist Alan Fox (1920-2002) in the article "Class and Equality," Socialist Commentary, May, 1956, pp. 11-13. The word is now closely associated with the book The Rise of the Meritocracy (London: Thames & Hudson, 1958) by the sociologist and politician Michael Young (1915-2002), who is often credited with its coinage.

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of meritocracy was in 1956

Dictionary Entries Near meritocracy

Cite this Entry

“Meritocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meritocracy. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

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