bumbledom

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English

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Etymology

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From Mr. Bumble, a character in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, +‎ -dom.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bumbledom (countable and uncountable, plural bumbledoms)

  1. bureaucracy; mannerisms characteristic of pompous, arrogant or pretentious officials.
    • 1942, G.M. Trevelyan, Illustrated English Social History[1], Digitized edition, Longman's Green and Co., published 2003:
      With the meekness went a strain of mild obstinacy exquisitely calculated to infuriate the self-important bumbledom of that time, as when the Friends refused to remove their hats before the Court that was to try them.