meritocracy.

A system in which status or advancement is intended to depend on ability and achievement.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• claimed meritocracy
• educational meritocracy

On the page

The essay asks whether the institution's claimed meritocracy survives unequal access.

Usage notes

Primary category: economics / business / social science. Forms: Countable or uncountable by context; countable singular meritocracy; plural meritocracies. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, evaluation, social science. Commonness: moderately common.