How to use oligarchy in a sentence

12 example sentences · noun

Oligarchy means a government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates. Example: “The 1832 Reform Act aimed to transform the British oligarchy and allow Parliament to represent the interests of a broader range of the population.”

Examples of oligarchy by meaning

nounA government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates.

It's an oligarchy because these families own and run almost everything that makes money in El Salvador.1981 September 6, “The Eclipse of the Oligarchs”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2022
The Itasca Project is just one example of existing oligarchy, and a surprisingly open one at that.2016 January 17, Malcolm Harris, “Wealthy cabals run America”, in Al Jazeera America, archived from the original on 23 Aug 2017, retrieved...
And if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves.2025 November 5, Zohran Mamdani, “The Full Transcript of Zohran Mamdani’s Victory Speech”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New...

nounA state ruled by such a government.

The 1832 Reform Act aimed to transform the British oligarchy and allow Parliament to represent the interests of a broader range of the population.

nounThose who make up an oligarchic government.

The modern British oligarchy—particularly during periods of Tory rule—has been called a chumocracy.

More sentences with oligarchy

Then will not this constitution be a kind of mean between aristocracy and oligarchy?1997, John Llewelyn Davies with David J. Vaughan, Republic, translation of original by Plato, page 263. From the entry mean
Beyond that, on multiple instances Andy shows familiarity with complex concepts like religious oligarchies and a puzzle like a cryptex.2021 February 26, Keegan McGuire, “The Parks & Recreation Fan Theory That Pegs Andy As A Secret Genius”, in Looper, archived from the…. From the entry cryptex
Having demonarchized government into a trinarchy of the Legislative, executive and Judicial, shall we remonarchize it into a legislative oligarchy?1925, Sampson R. Child, The Revolutionary Labor Amendment and the Constitution, page 11. From the entry remonarchize
The Indian "Bollygarchs" became a transnational oligarchy, investing in real estate in London, New York, and Singapore, along with Chinese and Russian plutocrats.2020 December 21, Philip McMichael, Heloise Weber, Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, SAGE Publications, →ISBN. From the entry Bollygarch
'Anyone is a Tupamaro if he does not merely make demands but disobeys the laws, decrees and ordinances made by an oligarchy to their interests'.2017 July 5, Jennifer S. Holmes, Terrorism and Democratic Stability, Routledge, →ISBN, page 55. From the entry Tupamaro
In contrast to the traditionally conservative or libertarian ethos of the entrepreneurial class, the oligarchy is increasingly allied with the nominally populist Democratic Party and its regulatory agenda.2013 October 5, Joel Kotkin, “California’s New Feudalism Benefits a Few at the Expense of the Multitude”, in The Daily Beast. From the entry nominal
According to Werner Sombart, the bourgeois was a challenger of the nobility and used the accumulation of richdom to get access to the oligarchy of the different courts in Europe.2006, José María Magone, The new world architecture. From the entry richdom

Meaning of oligarchy

noun A government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates.
noun A state ruled by such a government.
noun Those who make up an oligarchic government.

Full definition of oligarchy

Questions about oligarchy in a sentence

How do you use oligarchy in a sentence?: Oligarchy is used as a noun. For example: “The 1832 Reform Act aimed to transform the British oligarchy and allow Parliament to represent the interests of a broader range of the population.”
What is a short sentence with oligarchy?: “The modern British oligarchy—particularly during periods of Tory rule—has been called a chumocracy.”
What does oligarchy mean?: Oligarchy means a government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates.

Adapted from Wiktionary: oligarchy (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use oligarchy in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/oligarchy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.