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
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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In Serra’s work, nothing claims to be site-specific, and nothing claims to be seen, shown, or commemorated—these are the actual conditions of object experience in a social and economic order ruled by the dual tyranny of compulsive consumption and spectacle.—
Benjamin H. D. Buchloh,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
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Opposition to tyranny lies at the heart of every freedom movement.—
Daniel Twining,
National Review,
22 May 2025
Noun
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His parents, Marcelo Netto and Miriam Leitão, are both journalists who resisted the dictatorship and were persecuted.—
Marcelo Cajueiro,
Variety,
27 May 2025
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Men and women respond to the Nazi dictatorship by becoming, at best, evasive and feebly self-justifying, at worst, morally broken.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
Noun
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Daniel Kehlmann’s latest novel, The Director, documents the little compromises that led G. W. Pabst, like millions of other people, to accept fascism.—
Susan Neiman,
The New York Review of Books,
22 May 2025
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Jews tend to teach their children to be wary of fascism from a very young age, with its nationalist bombast, its cult of masculinity, its contempt for pluralism and its relentless, bludgeoning lies.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
21 May 2025
Noun
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In the middle of the twentieth century, understandably proud of America’s indispensable role in defeating totalitarian autocracy, historians tended to emphasize our nation’s undeniable achievements.—
James T. Kloppenberg,
Time,
28 May 2025
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But if current trends are allowed to continue, Europe may soon encounter a completely militarized autocracy on its borders that is similar to North Korea’s in structure, and far more dangerous.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 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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Communism and other forms of totalitarianism are often said to be antihuman.—
Rich Lowry,
National Review,
19 May 2025
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This lively novel examines the compromises and complicity of artists working in the face of totalitarianism through a fictional retelling of the life of the Austrian film director G. W. Pabst.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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