Phrase guide

crony capitalism

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈkɹoʊni ˈkæpɪtəlɪzəm/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of capitalism in which success in business depends on corrupt close relationships with government officials, often implying favouritism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable, usually

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cronynomics

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: capitalism, cronyism

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 權貴資本主義 /权贵资本主义 (quánguì zīběnzhǔyì) — form of economy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 裙帶資本主義 /裙带资本主义 (qúndài zīběnzhǔyì) — form of economy
  • Finnish: kaverikapitalismi — form of economy
  • German: Nepotismus — form of economy
  • German: Vetternwirtschaft — form of economy
  • German: Cousinenwirtschaft — form of economy
  • Italian: capitalismo clientelare — form of economy
  • Portuguese: corporativismo — form of economy
  • Russian: кумовской капитализм (kumovskoj kapitalizm) — form of economy
  • Serbo-Croatian: ortački kapitalizam — form of economy
  • Serbo-Croatian: rodijački kapitalizam — form of economy
  • Spanish: capitalismo de amiguetes — form of economy
  • Thai: ทุนนิยมพวกพ้อง — form of economy