dictator

noun

dic·​ta·​tor ˈdik-ˌtā-tər 

dik-ˈtā-

1

a

: a person granted absolute emergency power

especially, history : one appointed by the senate (see senate sense 1b) of ancient Rome

b

: one holding complete autocratic control : a person with unlimited governmental power

c

: one ruling in an absolute (see absolute sense 2) and often oppressive way

fascist dictators

2

: one who says or reads something for a person to transcribe or for a machine to record : one that dictates (see dictate entry 1 sense 1)

Synonyms of dictator

• tyrant

Examples of dictator in a Sentence

The country was ruled by a military dictator.

the dictator had a fierce stranglehold on the country, keeping its people in poverty and ignorance

Recent Examples on the Web

An Israeli military operation on a Syrian village Friday morning turned into the deadliest attack by a foreign nation on Syria since the ouster of former dictator Bashar al-Assad last year. —Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 28 Nov. 2025

Published in 1939, Rogue Male follows an unnamed English sportsman who attempts to assassinate a European dictator, strongly implied to be Adolf Hitler. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 27 Nov. 2025

According to Isaac, the regent was a cruel and greedy man who killed his subjects, took their land, and allied himself with Congo’s dictator, Joseph Mobutu. —Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

An exhibit celebrating the former dictator's life opened recently in the capital Kinshasa, and it's proven a surprising success. —Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 23 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dictatour, borrowed from Latin dictātor, from dictāre "to say repeatedly, speak aloud words to be transcribed by another, issue as an order" + -tor, agent suffix — more at dictate entry 1

Note: Though formally a derivative of dictāre, the noun dictātor is attested perhaps two centuries earlier in Latin and may be an independent formation, though the model for it is not clear; the sense "issue as an order" of dictāre may reflect influence of dictātor. The form tictator used in the Old English translation of Orosius's Historiae Adversum Paganos had no subsequent use.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for dictator

• coater
• creator
• curator
• debater
• deflator
• dilator
• equator
• locator
• mutator
• piscator
• pronator
• relator

Kids Definition

dictator

noun

dic·​ta·​tor ˈdik-ˌtāt-ər 

dik-ˈtāt-ər

1

: a person who rules with total authority and often in a cruel or brutal manner

2

: one that dictates

dictatorial

ˌdik-tə-ˈtōr-ē-əl, 

-tȯr-

adjective

dictatorially

-ē-ə-lē

adverb

dictatorialness noun