as in ruler
one who rules over a people with a sole, supreme, and usually hereditary authority
European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God
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Recent Examples of autocrat
Where dictators of the past tried to impose a national ideology, today’s autocrats focus on projecting a sense of competence.
—
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 2 Apr. 2025
Trump is somewhat incompetent at being an autocrat right now.
—Steve Inskeep, NPR, 6 June 2025
Others counter that labeling Trump an autocrat is alarmist.
—Daniel Treisman, The Conversation, 3 June 2025
And that has really been different from a lot of these other aspiring autocrats in recent years.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocrat
Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 2 Apr. 2025
Trump is somewhat incompetent at being an autocrat right now.
—Steve Inskeep, NPR, 6 June 2025
Others counter that labeling Trump an autocrat is alarmist.
—Daniel Treisman, The Conversation, 3 June 2025
And that has really been different from a lot of these other aspiring autocrats in recent years.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocrat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocrat
Noun
-
Princess Mako, a niece of Japan's Emperor Naruhito (and whose younger brother is the likely next ruler of Japan), married her longtime love, Kei Komuro, in a simple ceremony at a registry office on Oct. 26, 2021.—
Alex Apatoff,
People.com,
15 July 2025
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In 2019, during the first Trump administration, the State Department invoked a similar authority under the budget act to impose visa sanctions on Raúl Castro, the island's ultimate ruler, and his sons and daughters.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
13 July 2025
Noun
-
However, the long-reigning monarch never wore the Greville tiara in public, likely due to its significant connection to her late mother.—
Meredith Kile,
People.com,
4 July 2025
-
The revolutionary focus was, and remains today, on the rights of the individual — not the state, not the monarch, not a corporate entity, not a particular economic or social class, and certainly not the military.—
Arthur I. Cyr,
Chicago Tribune,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocrat. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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