dictator

noun

dic·​ta·​tor ˈdik-ˌtā-tər 

dik-ˈtā-

1

a

: a person granted absolute emergency power

especially, history : one appointed by the senate (see senate sense 1b) of ancient Rome

b

: one holding complete autocratic control : a person with unlimited governmental power

c

: one ruling in an absolute (see absolute sense 2) and often oppressive way

fascist dictators

2

: one who says or reads something for a person to transcribe or for a machine to record : one that dictates (see dictate entry 1 sense 1)

Synonyms

• tyrant

Examples of dictator in a Sentence

The country was ruled by a military dictator.

the dictator had a fierce stranglehold on the country, keeping its people in poverty and ignorance

Recent Examples on the Web

Libya’s dictator Moammar Gadhafi disarmed in 2003, at Western urging, especially from the United States, and subsequently ended up dead in a ditch. —Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2025

Former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (left) and his great-grandson, Lazio player Romano Mussolini (right). —Isabel Van Brugen, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 June 2025

Libya’s danger for migrants The Trump administration is also trying to send immigrants to Libya, which has not had a stable government since the U.S. and other countries supported the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gadhafi in 2011. —Eleanor Paynter, The Conversation, 24 June 2025

They were recently repeated in The Hollywood Reporter where it was alleged that Meghan was ‘a dictator in high heels’ and also appeared in Vanity Fair. —Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dictatour, borrowed from Latin dictātor, from dictāre "to say repeatedly, speak aloud words to be transcribed by another, issue as an order" + -tor, agent suffix — more at dictate entry 1

Note: Though formally a derivative of dictāre, the noun dictātor is attested perhaps two centuries earlier in Latin and may be an independent formation, though the model for it is not clear; the sense "issue as an order" of dictāre may reflect influence of dictātor. The form tictator used in the Old English translation of Orosius's Historiae Adversum Paganos had no subsequent use.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for dictator

• coater
• creator
• curator
• debater
• deflator
• dilator
• equator
• locator
• mutator
• piscator
• pronator
• relator

Kids Definition

dictator

noun

dic·​ta·​tor ˈdik-ˌtāt-ər 

dik-ˈtāt-ər

1

: a person who rules with total authority and often in a cruel or brutal manner

2

: one that dictates

dictatorial

ˌdik-tə-ˈtōr-ē-əl

-tȯr-

adjective

dictatorially

-ē-ə-lē

adverb

dictatorialness noun