as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a critical period that saw a number of third-world countries abandon authoritarianism for democracy
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Recent Examples of authoritarianism
And when liberalism seems weak and people are impatient for change, authoritarianism or anarchism can seem suitable alternatives to many.
—
Big Think, 11 Sep. 2025
Key components of authoritarianism include rejecting democratic rules; denying the legitimacy of opponents; tolerating or encouraging political violence; and curtailing the civil liberties of opponents.
—Karrin Vasby Anderson, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
Democrats, on the other hand, are blasting this move as a sign of impending authoritarianism and call it an unprecedented overreach in presidential authority.
—Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 29 Aug. 2025
That, in fact, political authoritarianism was more likely to lead to modernization and advancement.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2025
Was this announcement a sign of creeping authoritarianism?
—Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
The factors that in hindsight might explain the country’s abrupt upheaval—its swift economic growth followed by a downturn, its rapid urbanization, its authoritarianism, its corruption—were fairly normal.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
That aligns nicely with authoritarianism.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2025
Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi has warned the Toronto Film Festival that people everywhere need to take heed of signs of spreading repression and authoritarianism.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Big Think, 11 Sep. 2025
Key components of authoritarianism include rejecting democratic rules; denying the legitimacy of opponents; tolerating or encouraging political violence; and curtailing the civil liberties of opponents.
—Karrin Vasby Anderson, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
Democrats, on the other hand, are blasting this move as a sign of impending authoritarianism and call it an unprecedented overreach in presidential authority.
—Rachel Schilke, The Washington Examiner, 29 Aug. 2025
That, in fact, political authoritarianism was more likely to lead to modernization and advancement.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 18 Aug. 2025
Was this announcement a sign of creeping authoritarianism?
—Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
The factors that in hindsight might explain the country’s abrupt upheaval—its swift economic growth followed by a downturn, its rapid urbanization, its authoritarianism, its corruption—were fairly normal.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
That aligns nicely with authoritarianism.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2025
Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi has warned the Toronto Film Festival that people everywhere need to take heed of signs of spreading repression and authoritarianism.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for authoritarianism
Noun
-
The tyranny of any minority cannot and must not be allowed to stifle discussion and rule over our land.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
-
Though officially prohibited, Western movies, music and television circulated widely as contraband and highlighted themes like resistance to tyranny and the moral superiority of the West.—
Ilan Berman,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In 1979, when Chile was under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, 19-year-old Soto gave birth to the twin girls in the coastal town of Hualpén in Biobío province.—
Rafael Romo,
CNN Money,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The police and the prosecutor’s office, faithful tools of the dictatorship, captured 13 businessmen in just a few hours, including two who had come to negotiate at Casa Presidencial.—
Óscar Martínez & Carlos Martínez,
The Dial,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
At a time when contentious words dominate our conversations—think insurrection and fascism and fake news and woke—the need for dictionaries to chronicle and explain language, and serve as its watchdog, has never been greater.—
Stefan Fatsis,
The Atlantic,
13 Sep. 2025
-
The game has been viewed as a tongue in cheek critique of military dictatorships, with references to fascism and colonialism.—
Dan Gooding
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Kremlin wants to turn Ukraine into another Georgia, where pro-Russian political actors have largely captured the state and are pushing the country toward autocracy.—
DARIA KALENIUK,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Assayas addressed the timeliness of the Putin story in a world where autocracy seems to be relentlessly on the rise.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Brzezinski would dedicate his academic and professional life to studying and undermining the forces of totalitarianism and authoritarianism that had overtaken his homeland during his childhood.—
Niall Ferguson,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The Bashar Assad regime’s collapse inspired a wave of optimism about despotism turning into democracy.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Aug. 2025
-
If not for our nation’s First Amendment, our country could quickly resemble a despotism where police forces attack reporters and quash news reports that diverge from the official view.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
15 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Authoritarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/authoritarianism. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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