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"
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Recent Examples of absolutism
Its champions gradually came to reinterpret the end of licensing as a natural consequence of the Revolution of 1688—part of the progression from tyrannical absolutism to parliamentary monarchy.
—
Fara Dabhoiwala, Harpers Magazine, 4 June 2025
Public discourse must resist the seduction of emotional absolutism, demanding instead that moral arguments be grounded in fact and logic.
—Kevin Waldman, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2025
In our skies as in our social lives, incremental change, like ring rain, seems to work slowly, while acts of frightening absolutism seem to happen overnight.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
In other words, the absolutism or the abolitionist approach to cutting out meat from our diet doesn’t work for a lot of people.
—Shalom Daniel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Fara Dabhoiwala, Harpers Magazine, 4 June 2025
Public discourse must resist the seduction of emotional absolutism, demanding instead that moral arguments be grounded in fact and logic.
—Kevin Waldman, Twin Cities, 10 Apr. 2025
In our skies as in our social lives, incremental change, like ring rain, seems to work slowly, while acts of frightening absolutism seem to happen overnight.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2024
In other words, the absolutism or the abolitionist approach to cutting out meat from our diet doesn’t work for a lot of people.
—Shalom Daniel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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Andrew Garfield leads the feature that is now in production, portraying the leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
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Many of the newer immigrants are people who fled socialist tyranny in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela and were given work permits and temporary protection from deportation.—
Sal Rodriguez,
Oc Register,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Written and directed by Pérez Rial, the film reconstructs the exile of Sosa, who was arrested during a 1978 concert in La Plata and later forced to flee Argentina’s dictatorship.—
Emiliano De Pablos,
Variety,
20 Oct. 2025
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Caesar's Legion is a straight-up totalitarian dictatorship of LARPers playing Romans.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The surest defense against soft fascism is presence—to show up, visibly, and refuse the framing.—
Alexis Coe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
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Wyeth had taken several photos of a woman wearing three layers of denim vests, all filled with pins and slogans against fascism, against patriarchy, against the pipeline, against the former rapist in chief, against starving children, against book bans, against transphobes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Because, as the analysis above suggests, autocracy always comes gradually.—
John M. Crisp,
Twin Cities,
22 Oct. 2025
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With autocracies outnumbering democracies for the first time in 20 years, and only 12% of the world’s population now living in a liberal democracy, the future of the global democratic experiment may well depend on the people of the United States.—
Shelley Inglis,
The Conversation,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In recent months, as despotism intensified an increasing number of writers, scholars, and thinkers were declared foreign agents, and their books were taken off the shelves.—
Nina Khrushcheva,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
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Rather than panicking over Moscow’s maneuverings or conditioning their own support on Syria’s total break with Russia, U.S. and European leaders should focus on helping Syrians recover after a decade of civil war and a half century of despotism.—
Hanna Notte,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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What about the neuroscience of authoritarianism?—
Big Think,
Big Think,
18 Oct. 2025
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Protesters expressed concerns about authoritarianism, the future of the country and Project 2025.—
Erin Glynn,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In times of uncertainty, particularly under the growing threat of totalitarianism, utopian fantasies provide a way to reflect on the situation and, potentially, outline a path toward a positive outcome.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
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Except for a few shots of China’s President Xi presiding over a military parade, the film’s image of totalitarianism leans far more toward right-wing regimes; to leave out Mao, or Castro, feels like a mistake.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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