oligarch

noun

ol·​i·​garch ˈä-lə-ˌgärk  ˈō- 

plural oligarchs

1

: a member or supporter of an oligarchy

2

in Russia and other countries that succeeded the Soviet Union : one of a class of individuals who through private acquisition of state assets amassed great wealth that is stored especially in foreign accounts and properties and who typically maintain close links to the highest government circles

But what does it really mean to be a Russian oligarch …? … in Russian politics, the term first came about in the 1990s to describe a dozen or so powerful men who amassed immense wealth following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

—The Business Insider

The task force will pool the resources of the countries' law enforcement divisions to track down the assets of Russian oligarchs stashed overseas, a difficult task complicated by the opaque or complicated financial instruments frequently used by Russian financial elites to hide their holdings from public view.

—Jeff Stein

… young Armenians, who joined the protests in droves, angry that the same small club of politicians and oligarchs has controlled the country since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

—Neil Macfarquhar

Examples of oligarch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And one of the things that has become clear to me is that [today’s] tech oligarchs aren’t going to stop on their own. —Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2025

Russian oligarchs, who often have ties to the Kremlin, are of particular concern for Salim. —William Lambers, Newsweek, 10 Mar. 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi, on her first day in office, disbanded efforts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs, breaking up Biden-era programs known as Task Force Klepto Capture and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. —Daniel Arkin, NBC News, 3 Mar. 2025

Tech oligarchs, the gerontocracy, podcasters spouting misinformation and the erosion of civil liberties all blur into a muddy soup that’s adjacent to relevancy without ever achieving it. —Alison Herman, Variety, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek oligárchēs, from olig- olig- + -archēs -arch entry 1, after Greek oligarcheîsthai "to be ruled by an oligarchy," oligarchía oligarchy

First Known Use

circa 1610, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for oligarch

• disembark
• matriarch
• meadowlark
• patriarch
• watermark
• arc
• ark
• bark
• barque
• dark
• hark
• lark