meritocracy

merit +‎ -o- +‎ -cracy, coined by British sociologist Alan Fox in 1956 in an article in Socialist Commentary from May 1956, used as a derisive term,[1] and popularized by British sociologist Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington in his 1958 book The Rise of the Meritocracy.[2]

• (UK) IPA^(key): /mɛɹɪˈtɒkɹəsi/
• (US) IPA^(key): /mɛɹəˈtɑkɹəsi/

meritocracy (countable and uncountable, plural meritocracies)

1. Rule by merit and talent.
2. A type of society where wealth, income, and social status are assigned through competition.

Though widely used as a term of praise,[3] the term was originally coined as a satire, and a critique of awarding educational achievement.[2]

• meritocrat
• meritocratic
• mirrortocracy