noun government by the best citizens.
2. aristocracy ·noun a ruling body composed of the best citizens.
3. aristocracy ·noun a form a government, in which the supreme power is vested in the principal persons of a state, or in a privileged order; an oligarchy.
4. aristocracy ·noun the nobles or chief persons in a state; a privileged class or patrician order; (in a popular use) those who are regarded as superior to the rest of the community, as in rank, fortune, or intellect.