nepotist
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˈnɛpəˌtɪst/
- Many people criticized the senator for being a nepotist because he hired his relatives for key positions in his office.
Examples
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Nepotist spoiled trash!
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All social animals are nepotists.
Blog text (1) -
In true third-world nepotist style, he has been ruling for several years by proxy through a menagerie of siblings, cousins, and relatives-in-law.
Blog text (34) -
What exactly is it we're supposed to like about this tax-evading, draft-dodging, women's-rights-destroying, pandering, job-destroying, bigoted nepotist and corporate shill who is trying to buy the friggin election for the good of the 1%?
Blog text (23) -
The mayor was accused of being a nepotist after his daughter received a high-paying job in the city council.
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As a nepotist at the company, he favored his friends for promotions rather than considering their qualifications.
Synonyms
A person who uses personal connections to get favors
Surface Forms
Morphology
nepotist = nepotism (semi-transparent) = nepot + ist
The agentive suffix '-ist' makes the meaning 'a person who practices nepotism' clear if the learner knows 'nepotism', but the root 'nepot-' is not a productive or widely recognized English base.
Etymology
Nepotist comes from the Latin root nepos, which means 'nephew' and is the same root as the English word nephew. Long ago, powerful people often gave jobs to their nephews, so a nepotist is someone who favors relatives when hiring.