as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
by the end of the 20th century many countries around the world had rejected despotism in favor of democracy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of despotism
Cutting bureaucracy isn’t usually associated with despotism and power grabs.
—
Garry Kasparov, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2025
Picking your form of government used to feel like an existential choice, but now despotism and oligarchy are hardly differentiated.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2025
Western governments have burdened Georgia with a special status as a democracy-in-the-making in a region otherwise beset by despotism.
—Christian Caryl, Foreign Affairs, 26 Dec. 2024
Although Adolf Hitler met his road to perdition, Joseph Stalin survived and extended his despotism.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for despotism
Garry Kasparov, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2025
Picking your form of government used to feel like an existential choice, but now despotism and oligarchy are hardly differentiated.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2025
Western governments have burdened Georgia with a special status as a democracy-in-the-making in a region otherwise beset by despotism.
—Christian Caryl, Foreign Affairs, 26 Dec. 2024
Although Adolf Hitler met his road to perdition, Joseph Stalin survived and extended his despotism.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for despotism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despotism
Noun
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By settling with Trump, two of the firms that Trump targeted — Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps — have disgraced the legal community and turned their backs on their public duty to fight tyranny.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2025
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The Trump deportations Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez case spotlights wrong federal priorities in deportation cases Deportation as theater is the wrong tactic History has shown us that when governments operate without checks and balances, tyranny follows.—
Nisha Whitehead,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The oligarchs in Hungary and Russia support the dictatorship with their monetary gains in return for being allowed to remain billionaires.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2025
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The biographical drama is inspired by the lives of Brazilian activist Eunice Paiva and her politician husband Rubens, who was murdered for his dissidence toward the military dictatorship of 1970s Brazil.—
Edward Segarra,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The Russian and Chinese leaders have a common vision of global politics, anchored by their mutual commitment to autocracy and shared animosity toward the United States.—
MICHAEL McFAUL,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Apr. 2025
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The authors point to Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore as an early adopter of informational autocracy.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Leading scholars, including historians of fascism, keep making alarming comparisons between WW2 and the present.—
Chris Doyle,
Hartford Courant,
2 Apr. 2025
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Stanley is an expert on fascism and the author of several books on the topic, including Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.—
Destinee Adams,
NPR,
1 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Despotism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despotism. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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