demonocracyn.
/ˌdiːməˈnɒkrəsi/, U.S. /ˌdiməˈnɑkrəsi/ Government or rule by demons; a ruling body of demons. Now chiefly in extended use (with punning contrast with democracy) referring to cruel or wicked political regimes (cf. demon n. 2a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > rule of
demonicracy1656
devildom1694
demonocracy1713
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > rule of > ruling body of
demonocracy1827
1713 Coles's Eng. Dict. (new ed.) Demonocracy, the Government of Devils.
1736 W. King Toast (new ed.) Pref. p. xli In decent Conformity to the Sentiments of the British Senate, I shall not..assert a Demonocracy in the British Islands.
1755 J. Maud Doctr. Endless Torments i. v. 83 The House of Cain..may..not improperly be said to have put itself under a Demonocracy, where the implacable Adversary to God and Man, was the limited Tyrant.
1797 War of Giants 14 Some accused Heaven's elements of Demonocracy.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 282 A spirit..By foul demonocracy wholly subdu'd.
1827 H. Taylor Isaac Comnenus ii. iii A demonocracy of unclean spirits Hath govern'd long these synods of your Church.
1904 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 35 148 A magic book..in which the various dignitaries of the demonocracy are described according to their rank and position.
1912 J. J. M. de Groot Relig. in China i. 25 Chinese demonocracy, in spite of the falsity of its basis, has..done admirable service in East Asia in tempering man's bad instincts.
1991 E. Weber My France vi. 109 For some of its [sc. the French Revolution's] foes, democracy looked like demonocracy.
2005 V. D. Hanson in G. Rosen Right War? xix. 217 The risk then was that..we would become complicit in bringing to power not a democracy but a ‘demonocracy’ in the form of anti-democratic clerics or Arafat-like killers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1713