Definition of TYRANT

What makes someone a tyrant?

A glance at the comments posted in response to our definition of tyrant illustrate two things: the word has a fairly wide spectrum of meaning, and many political rulers of late (regardless of party and action) are thought by some to merit this description. The word is often now found used as a generalized term of reproach ("he was a real tyrant in the kitchen"), and also with more specific denotation ("the tyrant suspended the country’s judicial code"). The definitions we give for words match, as best as possible, the manner in which these words are used. We cannot offer judgment on whether or not any specific individual is or is not a tyrant.

Examples of tyrant in a Sentence

Our boss is a real tyrant. the people universally feared the tyrant, who was notorious for his frequent use of torture

Recent Examples on the Web The late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, for a good deal of his tenure as the team’s boss, was loathed, even mocked as a tyrant—not only in real life but as George’s boss on Seinfeld. — Sridhar Pappu, Town & Country, "How Steven Cohen Won the Battle for the New York Mets," 2 Nov. 2020 The founding fathers thought these electors — presumed to be educated, politically engaged citizens — would provide a bit of a check on the larger, uninformed masses to prevent a tyrant from getting elected. — Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times, "President Pelosi? Odds are low, but here’s how it could happen," 29 Oct. 2020 Trump finally stood up to the tyrant Bashar al-Assad of Syria who used chemical weapons and sarin gas, killed 200,000 civilians in Syria and created the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. — Steve Wenzel, Star Tribune, "Editorial Counterpoint: Why Donald Trump is the president we need," 12 Oct. 2020 According to Livius’ Joana Lendering, the Temple of Zeus was built around 480 B.C. to commemorate the tyrant Theron’s defeat of the Carthaginians. — Isis Davis-marks, Smithsonian Magazine, "A Colossal Statue of Atlas Will Rise Again," 6 Oct. 2020 Ratched is gruesome, dark, and a little sloppy at times plot-wise, but the intention of this story is to reframe our understanding of Nurse Ratched from power-hungry tyrant to morally ambiguous anti-hero. — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, "The Backstory Of Nurse Ratched Attempts To Rework The Harmful Female Character Trope No One Talks About," 21 Sep. 2020 Fletcher’s performance as cold, hard-hearted, passive-aggressive and quietly vicious tyrant Nurse Ratched was so indelible the character became a metaphor for abuse of power. — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Scott D. Pierce: Nurse ‘Ratched’ returns in gorgeous, dark, campy Netflix prequel to ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’," 18 Sep. 2020 As Henri wrestles with the gap between his revolutionary ideals and his duty, the novel digs into the pitfalls of revolution and the risk of replacing one tyrant with another. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "Hot Stuff: August romances raise the stakes and the temperature," 24 Aug. 2020 There is rampant inequality, an actual tyrant in power, and the laypeople are struggling, some even itching for a revolution. — Michelle Santiago Cortés, refinery29.com, "Medieval TikTok Is The Perfect Antidote For These Trying Times," 21 Aug. 2020

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