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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Al Jazeera, already a thorn in the side of Arab autocrats, reported extensively on the Arab Spring.
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Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, has been a thorn in the side of regional autocrats for years.
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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.
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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.
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Russia, which intervened decisively in 2015, had its own motives: flouting American designs and protecting a reliable autocrat.
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
Other Government and Politics Terms
AUTOCRAT Defined for English Language Learners
autocrat
playDefinition of autocrat for English Language Learners
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: a person who rules with total power
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See words that rhyme with autocrat Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for autocrat Spanish Central: Translation of autocrat Nglish: Translation of autocrat for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of autocrat for Arabic speakers
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