Definition of "princeling" [prince•ling]

• A prince judged to be of minor status or importance. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The son of a former Politburo member and "Long March" veteran Xi Zhongxun, Mr. Xi is a "princeling" -- the most privileged class of cadres in the Party."
• "Like many in the younger generation of Chinese leaders, Xi is a "princeling" - the son of a pro-reform official, Xi Zhongzun, who was purged in the early 1960s after a falling-out with"
• "Among academics, journalists, diplomats and others in Beijing, a popular parlor game is guessing whether the politically ambitious Mr. Bo—the son of a revolutionary leader and a leading member of the so-called princeling faction of leaders rising in China—will make it into the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in a leadership reshuffle later this year."