banana republic
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.90 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
4
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small country, especially one in Central America or the West Indies, that is dependent on a single export commodity (traditionally bananas) and that has a corrupt, dictatorial government.
Derogatory
Example Sentences
- "At that time we had a treaty with about every foreign country except Belgium, and that banana republic, Anchuria."
- "The banana workers of this former banana republic were exceptionally well organized and effective in their demands from the very beginning of the revolution."
- "The McCanns, it is hinted and sometimes expressed explicitly, cannot possibly be treated fairly under this inadequate Portuguese system. There is a touch of arrogant xenophobia here, as if Portugal was some backward banana republic […]"