despot

noun des·pot \ ˈdes-pət , -ˌpät \

|Updated on: 17 Jul 2018

Examples: despot in a Sentence

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

For weeks ahead of the meeting, Bolton set impossible targets for the summit and posited a scenario where Pyonygang swiftly dismantled its nuclear program in the same vein as the Libyan regime of despot Moammar Gaddafi in 2003.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "Trump’s canceled North Korea summit sums up his chaotic foreign policy," 25 May 2018
In a bizarre movement, after the working lunch Trump appeared to take Kim to check out his presidential Cadillac, in what observers suggested was an attempt to bond with the millennial despot.

— Time, "Kim Jong Un Vows Major Change at U.S.-North Korea Summit," 12 June 2018
The president is gearing up for two major foreign policy trips, first to Canada to meet his Group of Seven allies and then to Singapore to talk nuclear weapons with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Trump preps for G7 summit with angry allies.," 7 June 2018
Where previous games cast you as action heroes on tropical islands or Himalayan villages in the throes of violent conflict against despots and dictators, Far Cry 5 is set in... Montana.

— joshua rivera, GQ, "Far Cry 5 Review: Finally, a Video Game for Cowards," 2 Apr. 2018
This week, commentators debated the significance of President Donald Trump's historic meeting with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

— william cummings, USA TODAY, "The Bubble: How would conservatives have reacted to Obama meeting with Kim, liberals ask," 14 June 2018
Indeed, the President's focus over the past weeks has been his June 12 summit with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un in Singapore and not the G7 meetings held with top US allies in a remote part of Quebec.

— michelle kosinski, CNN, "Trump unenthusiastically heads for contentious G7," 7 June 2018
But just because a leader is cruel doesn’t mean he’s in imminent danger of becoming a despot.

— dylan matthews, Vox, "Stop making second American Civil War clickbait," 1 June 2018
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

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