ANTIDEMOCRATIC Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

antidemocratic

adjective

Definition of antidemocratic

as in totalitarian

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of antidemocratic Great replacement theory has spurred many everyday White people into supporting antidemocratic political parties that harm most White people—and the rest of us. — Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026 By partly neutralizing criticism that its leaders are elitist or antidemocratic, the right has been able to focus on issues that play to its strengths. — Brian Winter, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025 That is why critics of gerrymandering are right to regard it as antidemocratic. — Craig Gilbert, jsonline.com, 25 Sep. 2025 That pursuit was also driven by the transformation of conservatism itself—which, beginning in the Nineties, became ever more extremist, populist, anti-government, antidemocratic, and supportive of authoritarian measures. — Terry M. Moe, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for antidemocratic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for antidemocratic

Adjective

Orwell was exploring the roles that euphemism, tangled syntax, and dying metaphors can play in obscuring the true intentions of a totalitarian state.

— Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2026
Since then, North Korea has expanded its nuclear weapons program, and analysts believe the totalitarian regime now has dozens of nuclear warheads.

— Anna Coren, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of totalitarian

Adjective

The combination was as oppressive as the thermometer reading.

— Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Central Connecticut State University President Zulma Toro resigned Wednesday following an investigation into a complaint alleging the workplace culture under her leadership was oppressive, bullying and intimidating.

— Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

The Fed's protective umbrella helps the dollar's appeal among global investors, who can't be fully confident that funds invested into authoritarian China can be safely taken out of the country.

— Matt Peterson, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
Soon after the photo was taken, pro-Chinese Communist Party activists there began assaulting protesters of Xi's authoritarian regime — though there is no evidence Zhang was involved in any attacks.

— Adam Yamaguchi, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of authoritarian

Adjective

Despite the many obstacles to deployment, the technology is already bringing autocratic regimes the upsides of cheaper surveillance, smarter censorship, and fewer human subordinates to fear and distrust.

— Seva Gunitsky, Foreign Affairs, 1 Oct. 2026
To date, the most serious challenge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly autocratic tenure came from Ekrem İmamoğlu, the popular mayor of Istanbul.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of autocratic

Adjective

In both cases, there is something at once magisterial and leadenly self-regarding about the melancholic rhythms of Cusk’s prose, with its stiff and stately syntax and its utter impatience with the real vagaries of difference.

— Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
As outlined in the magisterial biography produced by his grandson, Peter Ascoli, and a remarkable documentary by Aviva Kempner, Rosenwald’s accomplishments were breathtaking.

— Harold Pollack, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of magisterial

Adjective

Domingo played the tyrannical show-biz patriarch Joe Jackson in the movie.

— Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026
Her little acts of rebellion towards her tyrannical teachers attract the admiration of three other misfits and the four girls form an inseparable group.

— Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of tyrannical

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antics

antidemocratic

antidepressant

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“Antidemocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/antidemocratic. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of antidemocratic

adjective

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