You searched for: “aristocracies
aristocracy (s) (noun), aristocracies (pl)
1. The nobility: The aristocracy is made up of lords, dukes, princes, princesses, kings and queens.
2. The government of a state by its “best” citizens: An aristocracy is that form of government in which the chief power lies in the hands of those who are most distinguished by birth or fortune or a political supremacy of a privileged order.
3. The class to which such a ruling body belongs, a patrician order: An aristocracy is the collective body of those, as the nobles, who form a privileged class with regard to the government of their country.

Aristocracy is popularly extended to include all of those who, by birth or fortune, occupy a position distinctly above the rest of the people and it is also used figuratively regarding those who are superior in other respects.

There are bad manners everywhere, but an aristocracy is bad manners organized.

—Henry James
This entry is located in the following units: -acy, -cy (page 1) -crat, -cracy, -cratic, -cratism, -cratically, -cracies (page 1)