as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
concerning absolutism Lord Acton famously observed that "absolute power corrupts absolutely"
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Recent Examples of absolutism
Public discourse must resist the seduction of emotional absolutism, demanding instead that moral arguments be grounded in fact and logic.
—
Kevin Waldman, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2025
In our skies as in our social lives, incremental change, like ring rain, seems to work slowly, while acts of frightening absolutism seem to happen overnight.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
In other words, the absolutism or the abolitionist approach to cutting out meat from our diet doesn’t work for a lot of people.
—Shalom Daniel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Bolton’s moral absolutism does not play well there.
—Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2019
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Kevin Waldman, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2025
In our skies as in our social lives, incremental change, like ring rain, seems to work slowly, while acts of frightening absolutism seem to happen overnight.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
In other words, the absolutism or the abolitionist approach to cutting out meat from our diet doesn’t work for a lot of people.
—Shalom Daniel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Bolton’s moral absolutism does not play well there.
—Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2019
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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The new Constitution’s supporters, known as Federalists, faced fierce opposition from Anti-Federalists who charged that a powerful national government, unrestrained by a bill of rights, would inevitably lead to tyranny.—
Donald Nieman,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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Males that tried to rule by asserting their dominance through violence, tyranny and threat did not last.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If the Supreme Court officially makes the chief executive a unitary executive, the advancement of the public good may depend on little more than the whims of the president, a state of affairs normally more characteristic of dictatorship than democracy.—
Graham G. Dodds,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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The exec emphasized his excitement about being in the country a few months after Salles’ history-making drama about Brazil’s military dictatorship, a film that also scored nominations for best picture and actress for Fernanda Torres.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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No more communism, or fascism; no more theocracy, or monarchies.—
Richard Stengel,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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This is the thing about fascism, right?—
Helen Molesworth,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The Biden administration completed the reversion to a Cold War frame, declaring a global divide between democracies and autocracies, with China and Russia reprising their roles as principal foes.—
JENNIFER KAVANAGH,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
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Although realistic doomsday scenarios—nuclear war, global warming, autocracy—are stressful to contemplate, more fanciful apocalypses (an alien invasion, a robot uprising) can generate some enjoyable escapism.—
Adam Becker,
The Atlantic,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In recent months, as despotism intensified an increasing number of writers, scholars, and thinkers were declared foreign agents, and their books were taken off the shelves.—
Nina Khrushcheva,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
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The Bashar Assad regime’s collapse inspired a wave of optimism about despotism turning into democracy.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The documentary about the perils of authoritarianism from the author of iconic 1984 and Animal Farm premiered at Cannes.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Oct. 2025
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The rise of authoritarianism, xenophobia and nationalism is also fueling young people’s desire to act, as opportunities that were once available to their parents’ generations have nearly disappeared.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Except for a few shots of China’s President Xi presiding over a military parade, the film’s image of totalitarianism leans far more toward right-wing regimes; to leave out Mao, or Castro, feels like a mistake.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
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Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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