autocrat

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noun au·to·crat \ ˈȯ-tə-ˌkrat \

Definition of autocrat

1 :a person (such as a monarch) ruling with unlimited authority

2 :one who has undisputed influence or power

He was the autocrat of his household.

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Examples of autocrat in a Sentence

European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God.

Recent Examples of autocrat from the Web

The national campaign will be about Trump the autocrat, the kleptocrat, the phony populist, and the cravenly accommodating Republican Party.

— michelle cottle, The Atlantic, "Democrats Pitch a Kinder, Gentler Populism," 31 July 2017
Vladimir Putin didn't rise in the KGB, and survive the collapse of the Soviet Union to become his country's presiding autocrat, by surrendering golden opportunities when they simply are handed to him.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "How Stupid Do They Think We Are?," 7 July 2017
The bad news is that the broader regional problems that created ISIS—sectarian strife, failures of governance, and despair over the permanent rule of autocrats—remain unchanged, if not worse.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "Does Trump’s Syria Policy Remind You of Someone?," 20 June 2017
Xi has played the gullible West with a skill that would have delighted his fellow autocrat, Joseph Stalin, who did much the same in the 1930s.

— joel kotkin, Orange County Register, "Is America now second-rate?," 18 June 2017
Al Jazeera, already a thorn in the side of Arab autocrats, reported extensively on the Arab Spring.

— ian lee, CNN, "What the Qatar crisis means for Hamas," 13 June 2017
Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, has been a thorn in the side of regional autocrats for years.

— ian lee, CNN, "What the Qatar crisis means for Hamas," 13 June 2017
In other words, despite the anger from America's traditional allies and many American voters, Trump's cordial relations with Putin and other autocrats seem to take precedence over concerns about values and shared interests.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "Trump’s pro-Saudi, pro-Russia, anti-Europe foreign policy," 31 May 2017
The embrace of Middle Eastern autocrats and criticism of longtime European allies has drawn strong criticism from foreign policy leaders of both parties, to say nothing of the reception Trump received in the European media.

— michael a. memoli, chicagotribune.com, "Trump maps new course with allies and autocrats in first foreign trip," 27 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'autocrat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of autocrat

French autocrate, from Greek autokratēs ruling by oneself, absolute, from aut- + -kratēs ruling — more at -crat

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First Known Use: 1762

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autocrat Synonyms

Synonyms

monarch, potentate, ruler, sovereign (also sovran)

Related Words

coruler; Caesar, czar (also tsar or tzar), emir (or amir also ameer), emperor, empress, kaiser, khan, khedive, king, lord, mikado, mogul, prince, queen, satrap, shah, sultan, suzerain; authoritarian, Big Brother, despot, dictator, führer (or fuehrer), monocrat, overlord, paramount, tyrant

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

AUTOCRAT Defined for English Language Learners

autocrat

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noun

Definition of autocrat for English Language Learners

: a person who rules with total power

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