Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An organization or agency that is financed by a government but that acts independently of it.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK An
organization that, althoughfinanced by agovernment , actsindependently of it.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a quasi nongovernmental organization; an organization that is financed by the government yet acts independently of the government
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word quango.
Examples
-
In a letter to Cabinet ministers, Mrs Thatcher's then principal private secretary Kenneth Stowe acknowledged "the term quango has no generally accepted definition".
BBC News - Home 2010
-
In a speech to Reform this afternoon, David Cameron argued that the growth of the so-called quango state represents “a serious accountability problem with our political system”.
-
In a speech to Reform this afternoon, David Cameron argued that the growth of the so-called quango state represents “a serious accountability problem with our political system”.
-
In a speech to Reform this afternoon, David Cameron argued that the growth of the so-called quango state represents “a serious accountability problem with our political system”.
-
The quango, which is responsible for more than 4,000 miles of motorway and trunk road, said the move will save money and carbon emissions and even stop light pollution.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
-
The quango, which is responsible for more than 4,000 miles of motorway and trunk road, said the move will save money and carbon emissions and even stop light pollution.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
-
The quango, which is responsible for more than 4,000 miles of motorway and trunk road, said the move will save money and carbon emissions and even stop light pollution.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
-
The quango, which is responsible for more than 4,000 miles of motorway and trunk road, said the move will save money and carbon emissions and even stop light pollution.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
-
When the old Blood Service "quango" in Stevenage was scrapped by the last bunch of Tories it introduced Aids to an unsuspecting haemophiliac population.
MPs condemn coalition's bonfire of the quangos as botched 2011
-
In Britain it is known as a "quango," or a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization that receives funding and a mission from parliament but acts independently, with its own board.
Regulator of Electronic Media Is a Political Lightning Rod Paul Sonne 2010
sonofgroucho commented on the word quango
I believe this is short for "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation".
February 17, 2007
sionnach commented on the word quango
Naw, SoG; according to Weirdnet's second definition, it's just a group of people who work together.
Like a quilting bee. Or a soccer team. A band of pirates. The corps de ballet at the Bolshoi. A highly trained special forces unit of vicious assassins. Your local Applebee's crew.
January 3, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word quango
... or the freaks in my office.
January 6, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word quango
1/16/09 UK Telegraph headline: "Spending by quangos on PR up a quarter despite looming economic downturn"
January 16, 2009
bilby commented on the word quango
"The authors of the report say politicians from all parties have called for cuts in the numbers and influence of quangos, but they have continued to flourish. Quangos are bodies which are charged by the government, and paid by it, to perform a certain role.
They vary greatly in the way they are set up and in roles they perform but have two key aspects - they are not under direct control from ministers and the people who work for them are not civil servants. They have been criticised by politicians from all sides at various times because of their cost, their number, or for an alleged lack of accountability."
- Angela Harrison, Call for quango cull in education, bbc.co.uk, 12 August 2009.
August 13, 2009
alexz commented on the word quango
what a silly sounding word.
can we call members of a quango, quangoroos?
December 13, 2013