dictatorship

noun

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dic·ta·tor·ship | \ dik-ˈtā-tər-ˌship

, ˈdik-ˌtā- \

Definition of dictatorship

1 : the office of dictator

2 : autocratic rule, control, or leadership people suffering under his dictatorship

3a : a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique Communism and dictatorship

b : a government organization or group in which absolute power is so concentrated rising up against a military dictatorship

c : a despotic state establishing a dictatorship

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Examples of dictatorship in a Sentence

The country suffered for many years under his dictatorship. His enemies accused him of establishing a dictatorship.

Recent Examples on the Web Guns flowed in from Cuba and Nicaragua, and the US offered full political and financial support to the Salvadoran military dictatorship. — Rachel Nolan, The New York Review of Books, "‘I’ve Lost Everything to the Beast’," 27 Apr. 2021 For Tammy and me, there was a war in our parents’ country in 1950, and there was a dictatorship that arose out of that war. — Lauren Ro, Vulture, "How Time to Say Goodbye Became the Only Asian American Podcast Saying the Hard Stuff," 9 Apr. 2021 Fears of a return to dictatorship were overblown, the diplomats said. — Andre Paultre And Sarah Marsh, The Christian Science Monitor, "The battle for democracy goes on in Haiti as Moïse gains power," 30 Mar. 2021 What’s most striking is the song’s direct demand for freedom and blunt challenge to the dictatorship and its lies. — James Freeman, WSJ, "The Sound of Liberty in Cuba," 26 Feb. 2021 During these years, Piazzolla frequently returned to Argentina, even during the 1976-83 military dictatorship — a brutal regime that sent his daughter, a social activist, into exile in Mexico. — Los Angeles Times, "They called him tango’s assassin. But Astor Piazzolla’s musical reboot made him a legend," 15 Apr. 2021 During President Park Chung-hee’s military dictatorship in South Korea, an authoritarian central government facilitated development even when most of the actual business was technically in private hands. — Mike Bird, WSJ, "How Military Leadership Hollows Out an Economy," 24 Feb. 2021 Congo suffered through one of the world's most brutal colonial reigns before undergoing decades of corrupt dictatorship. — NBC News, "Italian ambassador among 3 killed in attack on Congo convoy," 22 Feb. 2021 By that August, the price of a SIM card had dropped to $1.50 from a high of about two thousand dollars during the dictatorship. — Doug Bock Clark, The New Yorker, "In Myanmar, A Digital-Savvy Nation Poses a New Challenge for the Military," 2 Mar. 2021

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