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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of absolutism
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
The political absolutism of Sartre was a way of asserting fearlessness: Nothing, not even the presence of the U.S. Army, can intimidate me!
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
But by the early seventeenth century the sovereigns of Britain, France, and elsewhere had begun to erode this medieval constitutionalism in favor of a new absolutism.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Aug. 2024
The selection of Vance clarified the party’s absolutism.
—Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Shalom Daniel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
The political absolutism of Sartre was a way of asserting fearlessness: Nothing, not even the presence of the U.S. Army, can intimidate me!
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024
But by the early seventeenth century the sovereigns of Britain, France, and elsewhere had begun to erode this medieval constitutionalism in favor of a new absolutism.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Aug. 2024
The selection of Vance clarified the party’s absolutism.
—Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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Yet Croce and his peers knew that silence in the face of tyranny is not prudence.—
Elisa Manfredini,
Time,
14 June 2025
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This is because tyranny always catches you by surprise.—
Nan Z. Da
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
Noun
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Newsom is a potential Democratic Party presidential nominee in 2028. Democrats, partisan media and other critics of Trump are raising the spectre of diversion of our military from their proper constitutional roles, and even possible military dictatorship.—
Arthur Cyr,
Chicago Tribune,
18 June 2025
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This brings me back to the conclusion that the Venezuelan dictatorship — perhaps Latin America’s biggest potential winner of a global oil price hike — along with Colombia and Mexico may get, at best, a brief respite if the Iran war disrupts world oil shipping lanes.—
Andres Oppenheimer,
Miami Herald,
18 June 2025
Noun
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Baker reaches from Virginia’s slaveholding history to the poet Ezra Pound’s deluded post–World War II fascism to the misogynistic trolls of Gamergate in her quest to understand Unite the Right.—
Book Marks
June 20,
Literary Hub,
20 June 2025
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Seen as a metaphor for fascism, authoritarian threats and other abuses of power, the script has experienced a resurgence recently.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
18 June 2025
Noun
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These distinctions also reveal shifts in the same autocracy over time.—
ELIZABETH N. SAUNDERS,
Foreign Affairs,
16 June 2025
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The world is lurching toward autocracy, with alarming speed.—
Elisa Manfredini,
Time,
14 June 2025
Noun
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Now American culture bows down to Anna Wintour’s despotism.—
Armond White,
National Review,
9 May 2025
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The necessity of power sharing also meant that Congress could provide a check against despotism even if the same party held the Presidency and a majority in both houses.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Mao had also fully grasped the natural suitability of photographic and filmic media for the broadcasting and cognitive technologies of totalitarianism.—
Nan Z. Da
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
-
Hannah Arendt and the Fight for the Truth (Public Books) by John Plotz Hannah Arendt famously wrote about totalitarianism.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
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