Idiocracy is government by idiots, or a society governed by them. It blends idiot with -ocracy and is on record from 1967, almost four decades before Mike Judge’s 2006 film sent two sleepers to wake up in 2505. The film gave the word its fame, but not its first use. It opens A.Word.A.Day’s “A change of character” week, and next week each of the five words gets one letter recast.