as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
the Magna Carta is historically important because it signified the British rejection of autocracy and constituted the first formal restraining of the power of the monarch
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of autocracy
For example, in the 1930s, four major democracies (Germany, Japan, Italy, and Spain) became autocracies.
—
Ray Dalio, Fortune, 14 Mar. 2026
There’s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 12 Mar. 2026
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2026
After all, the series largely avoids other topical issues of modern campus life, from freedom of speech restrictions to administrators kowtowing to autocracies.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocracy
Ray Dalio, Fortune, 14 Mar. 2026
There’s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 12 Mar. 2026
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2026
After all, the series largely avoids other topical issues of modern campus life, from freedom of speech restrictions to administrators kowtowing to autocracies.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocracy
Noun
-
Of course, the titular Boys will try their best to end his tyranny.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
-
But his stance against the president’s tyranny is a call to action in the same vein as John Paul II’s exhortation to the free world to oppose the Soviet empire.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In just 13 years, Putin warped Russia’s once-promising constitutional democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Mexico is neither at war nor under a military dictatorship, yet thousands of people disappear every year amid cartel violence.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Post-fascism doesn’t involve paramilitaries or do away with elections outright.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Eventually, that nativist turn would take America into a series of constitutional crises and to the edge of some American version of fascism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Eight decades later, as nations inch toward despotism, an art animated by democratic impulses makes a stronger case for itself.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2026
-
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
Noun
-
Even under competitive authoritarianism, politics is still politics.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Orbán had rigged Hungary’s electoral system, media and courts to maintain power, yet voters still removed him—a result Democrats cite as proof authoritarianism can be defeated.—
Nicholas Riccardi,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Autocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocracy. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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