Aristocracy defined as rule by a privileged class concentrating governance in select nobles and dignitaries without popular rule. Aristocracy denotes a form of government vested in a select, privileged class rather than the populace, characterized by rule exercised by a council or group of select members or nobles, often exclusive of popular participation and typically lacking a monarch. The term also denotes a social class of nobles, dignitaries, or people of wealth and station who hold dominant political influence.