autocrat

au·to·crat | \ ˈȯ-tə-ˌkrat

How to pronounce autocrat (audio)

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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 on the Web Cold War skeletons tumbled from the closet: assassination plots, covert support for autocrats, spying on Americans. — Tim Weiner, New York Times, "Ralph W. McGehee, Agent Who Exposed the C.I.A., Dies at 92," 14 May 2020 The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Trump trolled with 'traitor' tweet by Dictionary.com after Putin summit," 16 July 2018 To be sure, governments can be oppressive and autocrats will exploit a crisis to grab power. — Naomi Oreskes, Time, "We Need Big Government to Save Us from the Pandemic," 17 Apr. 2020 This is important because in the past, Middle East autocrats stayed in power through a combination of coercion and consent. — Anthony Bubalo, The New Republic, "The Perpetual Weakness of Middle East Despots," 17 Mar. 2020 The 44-year-old daughter of Peru’s disgraced autocrat Alberto Fujimori was jailed in 2018, only to have the Constitutional Court annul the sentence 13 months later. — John Quigley, Bloomberg.com, "Keiko Fujimori Returns to Peru Jail Pending Laundering Trial," 16 Mar. 2020 Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's former autocrat who ruled for nearly 30 years before being ensnared in the 2011 Arab Spring that swept through the region, died Tuesday at 91, Egypt state TV reported. — Fox News, "Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former autocratic president, dead at 91: report," 26 Feb. 2020 Former Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak, who crushed political dissent in his country and ruled with an iron fist for three decades, has died at 91. — Anthony Leonardi, Washington Examiner, "Former Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak dies at 91," 25 Feb. 2020 Dictators, plutocrats and autocrats have long used the classical style to connect the grandeur of the Roman empire to their own power. — Kai Gutschow, The Conversation, "Why so many architects are angered by ‘Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again’," 12 Feb. 2020

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.

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Last Updated

20 May 2020

Cite this Entry

“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autocrat. Accessed 27 May. 2020.

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