VocabauraVOCABAURA

democracy

noun

Simple meaning

Rule by the people.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dihmahkruhsee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

dɪˈmɑkɹəsi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. uncountable

    Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives (representative democracy).

  2. The political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives

  3. countablegovernment

    A government under the direct or representative rule of the people of its jurisdiction.

  4. countable

    A state with a democratic system of government.

  5. uncountable

    Belief in political freedom and equality; the "spirit of democracy".

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Rule by the people, especially as a form of government; either directly or through elected representatives (representative democracy).

Used this way, democracy is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in government or politics contexts.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Government/politics

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use democracy

  • “Citizens have the right to vote in a healthy democracy.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “democracy”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Rule / political

representative democracydirect democracy

Other combinations

liberal democracyamerican democracypolitical democracynew democracy

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: rule by the people

autocracyautarchyRare

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “democracy” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.