Definition of totalitarianism
1 : centralized control by an autocratic authority
2 : the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority
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Examples of totalitarianism in a Sentence
in times of crisis, when a nation's people are frightened, there are often calls for totalitarianism
Recent Examples of totalitarianism from the Web
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America is not burdened with the history of tyranny and totalitarianism that haunts Russia.
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in which Nabokov treats us to, then liberates us from, the bad farce of totalitarianism.
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Resistance evokes the struggle against totalitarianism, conveying personal defiance and official powerlessness at the same time.
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Over the years, Castro became known for his totalitarianism.
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Some Ukrainian nationalists hitched their cause to Hitler’s, while Ukrainian Communists were the frontline enforcers of Soviet totalitarianism postwar.
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The word the twentieth century coined for that was totalitarianism.
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During the Cold War, critics such as Berlin and Jacob Talmon presented Rousseau as a prophet of totalitarianism.
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At times — as when a soldier under the new regime rapes a bride in her wedding dress — the movie flirts with a false equivalence, suggesting that postrevolutionary life is just as cruel as totalitarianism.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'totalitarianism'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
1926
First Known Use of totalitarianism
1926
Other Government and Politics Terms
Learn More about totalitarianism
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for totalitarianism Spanish Central: Translation of totalitarianism Nglish: Translation of totalitarianism for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of totalitarianism for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about totalitarianism
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