Meaning of mandarinate | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The status of holding a position as a mandarin.
   obsolete
2. The collective body of mandarins.
3. A political form of rule by mandarins.
4. A type of government marked by excessive bureaucracy and Byzantine regulations.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“As higher education, claiming more and more years of one’s life, widens the space between those who possess⟳ it and those who do not, and as the enlightenment of the public wanes relatively to the superior enlightenment of the learned castes and professions, the mandarinate will infallibly draw⟳ to itself a greater and greater share⟳ of social power.”

“He criticized the monarchy and the mandarinate for failing to save⟳ the country and to help⟳ the people in their hour of greatest need⟳.”

“Far from being a model⟳ of democracy, the EU is associated with an arrogant, out-of-touch mandarinate that issues rules and edicts with paternalistic and highhanded disregard for ordinary citizens.”

CEFR level