bumbledom
(ˈbʌmb(ə)ldəm)
[f. Bumble, name of the beadle in Dickens's Oliver Twist + -dom.]
Fussy official pomposity and stupidity, especially as displayed by the officers of petty corporations, vestries, etc.; beadledom in its glory.
| 1856 Sat. Rev. II. 12/1 The collective Bumbledom of Westminster. 1865 Spectator 22 Apr. 427 There spoke the true spirit of parish Bumbledom. 1880 Daily Tel. 8 Oct., The uncomplimentary epithet applied to municipal bureaucracy, ‘Bumbledom’. |