despotism

noun

des·po·tism | \ ˈde-spə-ˌti-zəm

Definition of despotism

1a : oppressive absolute (see absolute sense 2) power and authority exerted by government : rule by a despot an excess of law is despotism, from which free men revolt— S. B. Pettengill

b : oppressive or despotic exercise of power educational despotism

2a : a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power : absolutism

b : a despotic state enduring the despotism of the czars

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Examples of despotism in a Sentence

by the end of the 20th century many countries around the world had rejected despotism in favor of democracy

Recent Examples on the Web

As with most open-source projects, the decisions regarding what gets added and changed are made through a mix of despotism and anarchy. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "If You Can't Beat It, Code It," 17 Dec. 2018 Democratic-socialism is a seductive mutation of despotism in which the democratic majority delegates control of more and more resources to government overseers. — WSJ, "Beware ‘Thin Edge of the Wedge’ Socialism," 5 Dec. 2018 The worst of all despotisms is the heartless tyranny of ideas. — Daniel Pipes, WSJ, "Venezuela’s Tyranny of Bad Ideas," 26 Aug. 2018 Today the country with the world’s largest oil reserves suffers from a severely contracting economy, runaway inflation, despotism, mass emigration, criminality, disease, hunger and starvation, with circumstances deteriorating daily. — Daniel Pipes, WSJ, "Venezuela’s Tyranny of Bad Ideas," 26 Aug. 2018 Fiction and poetry were Mario’s refuge from Ernesto’s domestic despotism. — Marcela Valdes, New York Times, "The Elder Statesman of Latin American Literature — and a Writer of Our Moment," 20 Feb. 2018 Then some come and try to put us between two impossible options; either despotism or terrorism. — Alessandra Codinha, Vogue, "Tawakkol Karman Has Not Given Up On Yemen—And Neither Should You," 27 Mar. 2018 Anyone who refuses to recognize that Donald Trump has raised the hate meter in this country to DEFCON 1 (our nation’s highest threat alert) is choosing politics over patriotism, despotism over common sense, anarchy over democracy. — Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press, "Rochelle Riley: Threats to journalists are threats to America," 8 July 2018 China slipped back into despotism, warlordism and (following an invasion by Japan) all-out civil war. — The Economist, "The next sunriseIdeas from abroad take time to percolate," 17 May 2018

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