absolutism

ab·so·lut·ism

noun \ˈab-sə-ˌlü-ˌti-zəm\

Definition of ABSOLUTISM

1

a : a political theory that absolute power should be vested in one or more rulers b : government by an absolute ruler or authority : despotism

2

: advocacy of a rule by absolute standards or principles

3

: an absolute standard or principle

— ab·so·lut·ist \-ˌlü-tist\ noun or adjective

— ab·so·lu·tis·tic \ˌab-sə-(ˌ)lü-ˈtis-tik\ adjective

Examples of ABSOLUTISM

1. <concerning absolutism Lord Acton famously observed that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”>

First Known Use of ABSOLUTISM

1830

Related to ABSOLUTISM

Synonyms: despotism, autarchy, authoritarianism, autocracy, Caesarism, czarism (also tsarism or tzarism), dictatorship, totalism, totalitarianism, tyranny

Related Words: monarchism, monarchy, monocracy; Big Brother, Big Brotherism, Communism, fascism, Nazism; domination, oppression

Near Antonyms: democracy, self-governance, self-government, self-rule; freedom, self-determination; autonomy, sovereignty (also sovranty)

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with ABSOLUTISM

absenteeism, abstractionism, adventurism, aestheticism, Afrocentrism, agnosticism, alcoholism, amateurism, anabaptism, anachronism, Anglicanism, animalism, antagonism, Arianism, astigmatism, athleticism, automatism, behaviorism, Big Brotherism, bilingualism, Bonapartism, cannibalism, capitalism, Cartesianism, Catholicism, charlatanism, collectivism, commercialism, communalism, Confucianism, conservatism, constructivism, consumerism, corporatism, creationism, determinism, do-nothingism, eclecticism, ecotourism, ecumenism, egocentrism, empiricism, epicurism, eroticism, essentialism, ethnocentrism, evangelism, exoticism, expansionism, expressionism, Fabianism, factionalism, fanaticism, favoritism, federalism, Fenianism, feuilletonism, Fourierism, fraternalism, Freudianism, funambulism, functionalism, hermeticism, Hispanicism, historicism, hooliganism, illiberalism, illusionism, impressionism, infantilism, inflationism, initialism, insularism, irredentism, Jacobinism, Keynesianism, know-nothingism, lesbianism, liberalism, libertinism, literalism, Lutheranism, Lysenkoism, magic realism, malapropism, mercantilism, messianism, metabolism, metamorphism, militarism, minimalism, monasticism, monotheism, mutualism, naturalism, Naziritism, negativism, neologism, neo-Nazism, neorealism, nominalism, nonconformism, objectivism, obscurantism, obstructionism, opportunism, pacificism, parallelism, pastoralism, paternalism, patriotism, Peeping Tomism, perfectionism, photo-realism, plebeianism, polytheism, positivism, postmodernism, primitivism, progressivism, protectionism, Protestantism, provincialism, puritanism, radicalism, rationalism, recidivism, reductionism, regionalism, relativism, revisionism, revivalism, ritualism, romanticism, salvationism, sansculottism, scholasticism, sectionalism, secularism, separatism, serialism, Slavophilism, somnambulism, Stakhanovism, structuralism, subjectivism, teetotalism, theocentrism, triumphalism, Uncle Tomism, ventriloquism, vigilantism, workaholism