absolute monarchy

noun

plural absolute monarchies

: a system of government in which a monarch rules with complete freedom from constitutional or other restraint

In the late 1700s, rejecting the constitutional and absolute monarchies of Europe, the Founding Fathers created a constitutional republic. The people would elect citizen representatives to follow the wishes of the people.

—Joe Polizzotti

also : a nation or state governed by a monarch who has absolute power

Eswatini, previously called Swaziland, is a country of about 1.2 million people between South Africa and Mozambique. It is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies and the last in Africa.

—Gerald Imray and Michelle Gumede

Word History

First Known Use

1575, in the meaning defined above