Word.ws English Dictionary

Dilbert principle

Dilbert principle proper noun: the theory that incompetent people in an organization tend to be promoted to a level at which they can do less harm to productivity.

Proper noun

the Dilbert principle

  1. (humorous) The theory that incompetent people in an organization tend to be promoted to a level at which they can do less harm to productivity.

Origin of Dilbert principle

Introduced in the Dilbert comic strips, as a satirical take on the Peter principle.

Questions about Dilbert principle

What does Dilbert principle mean?
Dilbert principle means the theory that incompetent people in an organization tend to be promoted to a level at which they can do less harm to productivity.
What part of speech is Dilbert principle?
Dilbert principle is a proper noun.

Words near Dilbert principle in the dictionary

  1. dilawan
  2. dilawans
  3. Dilazak
  4. Dilazaks
  5. dilazep
  6. Dilbert principle
  7. Dilbertesque
  8. Dilbertian
  9. dilbit
  10. dilbits
  11. dild

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Dilbert principle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Dilbert principle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dilbert_principle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.