as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
concerning absolutism Lord Acton famously observed that "absolute power corrupts absolutely"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of absolutism
At the Claremont Institute in California, the disciples of Leo Strauss, the intellectual guru to several generations of conservatives, combine Platonic philosophy, biblical teachings, and a reverence for the American founding into a politics of ethical and religious absolutism.
—
George Packer, The Atlantic, 24 Nov. 2025
Lyra’s quest to understand Dust brings her into confrontation with human and other worldly forces who champion moral absolutism over imagination, ignorance over knowledge, authoritarianism over free will and cold, disinterested rationality over empathy.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
As Perez wrote, Musk’s free-speech absolutism was a fiction perpetuated by a pliant media.
—Jacob Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
The History of a Dangerous Idea, Dabhoiwala sees First Amendment absolutism in the practices of Facebook and its ilk.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
George Packer, The Atlantic, 24 Nov. 2025
Lyra’s quest to understand Dust brings her into confrontation with human and other worldly forces who champion moral absolutism over imagination, ignorance over knowledge, authoritarianism over free will and cold, disinterested rationality over empathy.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
As Perez wrote, Musk’s free-speech absolutism was a fiction perpetuated by a pliant media.
—Jacob Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
The History of a Dangerous Idea, Dabhoiwala sees First Amendment absolutism in the practices of Facebook and its ilk.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
-
Killing the tyrant doesn’t assure the tyranny will end.—
Nolan Finley,
Twin Cities,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Ayatollah Sayyed Abdullah Behbahani and Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai used Islamic arguments to claim that even kings must be bound by law, and that tyranny was incompatible with religion.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, established a religious dictatorship that subjugates the Iranian people under sharia law, while zealously exporting its dogma by force.—
Elan Journo,
Oc Register,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz’s ‘Another League’ chronicles the defiant birth of women’s soccer in the waning years of Francisco Franco’s arcane dictatorship in early 1970s Spain – today the reigning world champions after winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Here as elsewhere, Schmitt’s rejection of the separation of powers, and the experience of fascism under Hitler, offer the right warnings.—
Cass Sunstein,
Big Think,
5 Mar. 2026
-
But this is a new world, and the ascendance of fascism can really pave the way for a product launch!—
Sarah Jeong,
The Verge,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The hope is that the institutional reforms started by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus deliver the necessary checks and balances to avert another lurch toward despotism.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
After all, the series largely avoids other topical issues of modern campus life, from freedom of speech restrictions to administrators kowtowing to autocracies.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Do these pictures stealthily undermine that brand of autocracy because Foto Estudio Luisita was a feminist enterprise where women made images of women?—
Bryan Barcena,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Hate, division, and authoritarianism aren’t new enemies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
-
For over three decades, Khamenei subjected Iranians to severe authoritarianism and repression, culminating in him ordering the security forces to shoot and kill thousands of Iranians during the protests in January 2026, not to mention those in previous years.—
Eric Lob,
The Conversation,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Jury President Wim Wenders praised the film for its portrait of life under totalitarianism saying the story would chime with and serve as a wakeup call for people all over the world.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
21 Feb. 2026
-
His loathing for totalitarianism was among the very few hatreds Reagan ever held, his biographer Edmund Morris said.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
