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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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
-
People, third and fourth generation Minnesotans were talking about tyranny.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
This is not a dictatorship in the classic sense.—
Alejandro Reyes,
Washington Post,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Mendonça was born in 1968, in the early years of a ruthless military dictatorship—a time when cinema, like much else, was harshly constrained.—
Stephania Taladrid,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Genocide, conspiracy, and fascism can and will happen here.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
-
That is really thuggish fascism.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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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But with his bent turned toward authoritarianism, the voters are now rejecting his policies.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Feb. 2026
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These comments are said against a backdrop of escalating violence and authoritarianism in this country that’s directly tied to out-of-control behavior by federal agents conducting immigration raids.—
Thomas Kennedy,
Sun Sentinel,
9 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 11 Feb. 2026.
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