old word, current world

An article in yesterday's Washington Post caught my eye this morning. The title: "Kakistocracy, a 374-year-old word that means ‘government by the worst,’ just broke the dictionary".

Hmm... It's an old word, one I don't remember hearing before. The "run" on the word started with a tweet by former CIA director John O. Brennan directed at the president. According to Meriam-Webster:

"Kakistocracy was among our top lookups on April 13th, 2018, rising 13,700% after its appearance in a tweet by former CIA Director John O. Brennan."

The definitions of kakistocracy that I found were variations on a theme.

Merriam-Webster: "government by the worst people"

Wikipedia: "A kakistocracy is a system of government which is run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens. The word was coined as early as the 17th century."

The word fits.