officialdom

Definition

The people elected to government or employed in the civil service.

Etymology

From official + -dom.

Example Sentences

• "[Magazine staffer:] In the bag may be the next chief—a wedding to one of officialdom's family will assure certainty."
• "Nevertheless Armenian leaders at first retained faith in the reform agenda of the Porte, ascribing their ills to incompetent officialdom and Kurdish lawlessness."
• "An enormous amount of off-book money sloshes around Chinese business and officialdom, and some of it runs into handbags."