despot

noun des·pot \ ˈdes-pət , -ˌpät \

Updated on: 22 May 2018

Definition of despot

1 a : a ruler with absolute power and authority

tyrannical despots

b : one exercising power tyrannically : a person exercising absolute power in a brutal or oppressive way

regards the basketball coach as a despot

2 a : a Byzantine emperor or prince

b Christianity : a bishop or patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church

c : an Italian hereditary prince or military leader during the Renaissance

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Examples of despot in a Sentence

He was a successful basketball coach, but many people regarded him as a petty despot.
The company is run by a benevolent despot.

Recent Examples of despot from the Web

Ditching the Iran deal, in their view, shows North Korea’s young despot that Trump won’t accept terms that allow for Kim to eventually restart a nuclear program.

— brian bennett, Time, "How Talks with North Korea Convinced Trump to Scrap the Iran Deal," 8 May 2018
Further, the failure to respond will not only embolden the Assad regime but also convince despots around the world that weapons of mass destruction can be used without penalty.

— alex marquardt, CNN, "White House talking points on Syria before Haley's interview cite intended Russia sanctions," 20 Apr. 2018
She was only identified as the despot’s wife in 2012 and the couple is believed to have three children — though none of them have been pictured in public.

— Fox News, "Kim Jong Un's cheerleading wife rises in ranks to achieve first lady title," 19 Apr. 2018
In one, the Philippines is a place of fear and chaos, where innocents are gunned down in the streets and a foul-mouthed despot encourages ruthless justice against those who defy him.

— jessica mendoza, The Christian Science Monitor, "In the Philippines, divided politics feed – and feed on – a divided web," 9 Apr. 2018
Such horrors are why most countries outlawed the use of chemical weapons long ago—and why Syria’s despot flouts that ban.

— The Economist, "If Syria’s despot is not punished, others will use chemical weapons," 12 Apr. 2018
Even as his administration imposed sanctions on some of Putin’s inner circle in the wake of the U.K. poisoning, Trump has studiously avoided antagonizing the Russian despot on a personal level, for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious.

— benjamin hart, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Attacks Putin by Name for First Time," 8 Apr. 2018
The estranged couple eventually earned the future despot’s trust to travel to Vienna, Austria in 1986, according to the BBC.

— Fox News, "South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee, once kidnapped by North Korea, dead at 92," 17 Apr. 2018
That such enlightened views were cast aside during much of the 20th century by despots (Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao) only makes more evident the truths of Hume and Smith.

— WSJ, "What Did the Enlightenment Really Give Us?," 13 Apr. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of despot

Middle French despote, from Greek despotēs master, lord, autocrat, from des- (akin to domos house) + -potēs (akin to posis husband); akin to Sanskrit dampati lord of the house — more at dome, potent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1585

in the meaning defined at sense 2a

See Words from the same year