autocracy

noun

au·​toc·​ra·​cy ȯ-ˈtä-krə-sē 

plural autocracies

1

: the authority or rule of an autocrat

2

: government in which one person possesses unlimited power

3

: a community or state governed by autocracy

Synonyms

• absolutism
• autarchy
• authoritarianism
• Caesarism
• czarism
• tsarism
• tzarism
• despotism
• dictatorship
• totalism
• totalitarianism
• tyranny

Examples of autocracy in a Sentence

the Magna Carta is historically important because it signified the British rejection of autocracy and constituted the first formal restraining of the power of the monarch

Recent Examples on the Web

These distinctions also reveal shifts in the same autocracy over time. —Elizabeth N. Saunders, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2025

The world is lurching toward autocracy, with alarming speed. —Elisa Manfredini, Time, 14 June 2025

Iran has been unique among regional powers in its tendency to cultivate and arm allies abroad, and to aid those allies in their efforts in order to make trouble for incumbent autocracies, from Cairo to Baku to Sanaa. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025

Warnings of the fifth step on the road to autocracy, securing long-term power, come in Trump’s musing of seeking an unconstitutional third term as president. —Dan Vergano, Scientific American, 14 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "self-control," borrowed from Greek autokrateîa "self-control, power over oneself," from autokratḗs "ruling by itself (of a mind), with sole authority (for a task)" + -ia -y entry 2 — more at autocrat

Note: The word acquired the present meaning under the influence of Latin autocratōr (from about the fifth century on) and Greek autokrátōr, meaning "with sole authority," and later by association with autocrat. See note at autocrat.

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for autocracy

• bureaucracy
• democracy
• hypocrisy
• plutocracy
• theocracy
• aristocracy
• meritocracy

Kids Definition

autocracy

noun

au·​toc·​ra·​cy ȯ-ˈtäk-rə-sē 

plural autocracies

: government in which one person has unlimited power