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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Continue reading … 'HISTORIC DAY' – Venezuelan opposition leader celebrates January 3 as 'day that justice defeated tyranny' after Maduro capture.—
,
FOXNews.com,
6 Jan. 2026
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In the past, a popular uprising or a coup could bring tyranny to an end.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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His socialist dictatorship, hostile to human life, crushed Venezuelans’ freedoms for years.—
Agustina Vergara Cid,
Oc Register,
7 Jan. 2026
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One of his uncles had been part of the resistance to the right-wing military dictatorship that controlled Greece between 1967 and 1974.—
Naaman Zhou,
New Yorker,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Europe was collapsing under fascism.—
Philip Martin,
Washington Post,
7 Jan. 2026
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This is likewise the thrust of Salò, based on the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom, an orgiastic, disturbing carnival of torture, rape, and killing, reset by Pasolini in the town from which fascism reigned in the 1940s.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
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These achievements made the United States the political model of the liberal state, which displaced the monarchical dynasties of Europe in the nineteenth century, then rescued Western civilization from the totalitarian despotisms of Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union in the twentieth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The time has come to stop this slippery slope to autocracy, restoring our democracy and reaffirming the core values upon which our country was built and persevered.—
Richard Cherwitz,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Jan. 2026
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There’s a very strong correlation with the rise of autocracy and human-rights abuses and bad governance and the increase in anti-American discourse.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Long before authoritarianism took hold, many Venezuelans felt that the system no longer worked for them.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
9 Jan. 2026
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These efforts served as a soft-power hedge against authoritarianism, making clear that economic ties should also elevate human dignity.—
Tharo Khun,
Sourcing Journal,
8 Jan. 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 20 Jan. 2026.
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