cronyism
cro·nyism
noun
1.
favoritism shown to friends and associates (as by appointing them to positions without regard for their qualifications)
Origin
From crony (“close friend”) + -ism (suffix forming names of a tendency of action, behaviour, condition, opinion, or state belonging to a class or group of persons).
Phrases
- crony capitalism
- old boy network
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.