cronyism
noun
cro·ny·ism
| \ ˈkrō-nē-ˌi-zəm
\
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Definition of cronyism
: partiality to cronies especially as evidenced in the appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications
Examples of cronyism in a Sentence
The mayor has been accused of cronyism.
Recent Examples on the Web
But from Iowa to New Hampshire and South Carolina, the 2020 candidates have been increasingly turning DeVos’ name into a proxy for incompetence and cronyism in the Trump administration. — NBC News, "Booker's history with DeVos under scrutiny as Democrats invoke her on the trail," 4 Sep. 2019 In July, across the Black Sea, Romanians and Bulgarians also staged demonstrations: the former over police incompetence and the latter over cronyism in the judiciary. — The Economist, "The eastern summer," 8 Aug. 2019 One example: how to root out a tradition of cronyism and corruption among the island’s elected leaders. — Ana Campoy, Quartz, "What’s next for Puerto Rico?," 25 July 2019 Critics have argued that the city should award the sports betting contract through competitive bidding, saying that multiple bids results in the best deal for taxpayers and and limits cronyism in contracting. — Fenit Nirappil, Washington Post, "$215 million D.C. sports gambling contract includes politically connected subcontractors," 11 June 2019 The challenger was talking about cronyism and mismanaged public projects. — Andrew Kenney, The Denver Post, "In the Denver mayor’s race, it’s 1995 all over again," 4 June 2019 Black women are just fed up with the double standards and the cronyism in venture capital. — Dee Poku Spalding, Marie Claire, "How I Plan to Get Funding Into the Hands of Black Female Entrepreneurs," 30 Jan. 2019 Many of the practices that have bogged down the hiring process were put in place in 1952 to fight cronyism and patronage, the tradition of handing out jobs based on a person’s friends and family. — Juliana Feliciano Reyes, Philly.com, "'Cumbersome, inflexible, and slow': It can take a year to get hired by the city, Pew finds," 26 June 2018 Petro and his team argue that Venezuela’s economic collapse and rampant hunger have more to do with corruption and cronyism than the country’s adherence to socialist policies. — Jim Wyss, miamiherald, "How the chaos in Venezuela may influence who becomes president of Colombia," 15 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cronyism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cronyism
cronyism
noun
English Language Learners Definition of cronyism
disapproving
: the unfair practice by a powerful person (such as a politician) of giving jobs and other favors to friends
See the full definition for cronyism in the English Language Learners Dictionary