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
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
The idea that executive absolutism can be stopped by a single district judge is a romantic but inaccurate one.
—George Liebmann, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2025
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
Weak absolutism thus required a balance of power between the king and the rent-seeking coalitions around him, with neither side dominating.
—Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 25 Sep. 2025
The idea that executive absolutism can be stopped by a single district judge is a romantic but inaccurate one.
—George Liebmann, Baltimore Sun, 2 July 2025
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
Weak absolutism thus required a balance of power between the king and the rent-seeking coalitions around him, with neither side dominating.
—Serhiy Kudelia, Foreign Affairs, 27 Feb. 2014
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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Williams’s novel is concerned with time’s tyranny.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Bashar al-Assad, who oversaw the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of his fellow Syrians during a quarter century in power, may have achieved something new in the annals of tyranny.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And perhaps most important, by empowering Congress, not the president, to remedy deficient state electoral schemes, the Constitution prevents presidents from rewriting the election code by executive fiat and thus provides an additional safeguard against military dictatorship.—
Jeffrey Rosen,
The Atlantic,
16 Feb. 2026
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In this country, unlike in dictatorships, people expect to be able to identify law enforcement officers by sight and by badge number.—
William Robiner,
Twin Cities,
15 Feb. 2026
Noun
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From ancient sources philosophers and poets, democrats and demagogues, found justification for everything from anarchy to fascism, and there are reasons for both justifications.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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That is really thuggish fascism.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
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The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Joy Neumeyer What do the far right’s fluctuating fortunes in Poland suggest about countries seeking an off-ramp from autocracy?—
Leah Downey,
The New York Review of Books,
7 Feb. 2026
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Amodei’s essay covers a lot of ground, from existential threats to fighting autocracy to saving jobs.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Negotiations divorced from accountability risk entrenching authoritarianism and teaching regimes that bloodshed is merely a prelude to diplomatic rehabilitation.—
Pegah Banihashemi,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
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Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has found success in both scripted and documentary films, many of which explore the legacy of authoritarianism in Europe and its parallels with the present.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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After Al Qaeda and then Saddam Hussein abruptly emerged as incarnations of a new totalitarianism, Michael Ignatieff and Niall Ferguson, among many others, impatiently urged the United States to assume its imperial obligations and impose democracy, human rights, and free trade through war.—
Victor J. Blue,
Harpers Magazine,
23 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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