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"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
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
-
Males that tried to rule by asserting their dominance through violence, tyranny and threat did not last.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
Thomas Pynchon has been warning us about American fascism the whole time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Oct. 2025
-
His latest novel in English, , unfolds in a single sentence and reflects anxieties about rising fascism in Europe.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
This is a democracy versus autocracy issue.—
Andrea Hsu,
NPR,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Yet the film’s timeliness is still a tonic, given that the spirit of autocracy looks more and more like a virus that now wants to take over the world.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
The Bashar Assad regime’s collapse inspired a wave of optimism about despotism turning into democracy.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
And Trump should not be surprised when millions of Americans stand up to his authoritarianism and his greed.—
Deputy News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Oct. 2025
-
All this assumes that America and the West do not backslide into their own versions of authoritarianism.—
Peter Leyden,
Big Think,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (also stylized as 1984) was published in 1949, and served as a stark warning about the dangers of totalitarianism.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share