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
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
But experts worry this audacious undertaking risks fraying the last remaining threads of international norms, emboldening autocracies into new acts of aggression without fear of consequences.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 5 Jan. 2026
Education is the natural enemy of complacency and autocracy.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2026
Yet, while the outcome was ultimately the survival of incumbent governments, these elections are quite telling about the changing fortunes of autocracy in Africa.
—Yonatan Morse, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocracy
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026
But experts worry this audacious undertaking risks fraying the last remaining threads of international norms, emboldening autocracies into new acts of aggression without fear of consequences.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 5 Jan. 2026
Education is the natural enemy of complacency and autocracy.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2026
Yet, while the outcome was ultimately the survival of incumbent governments, these elections are quite telling about the changing fortunes of autocracy in Africa.
—Yonatan Morse, The Conversation, 19 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocracy
Noun
-
History does not record many cases in which a power-mad leader careening toward tyranny suddenly regained his senses and became more moderate.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Washington was a slaveholder and had fought a revolution to overthrow British tyranny.—
John Garrison Marks,
Time,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Iran Human Rights Society (IHRS) identified the soldier as Javid Khales, who was arrested during the nationwide protests of 1404, a major wave of anti-regime demonstrations from late 2025 to early 2026 calling for an end to the country’s current dictatorship.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
21 Jan. 2026
-
The Wave exploring whether a dictatorship could emerge in modern Germany.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
With football, the psychology of fascism works.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Sean Penn has the showiest performance, embodying all that is ridiculous about fascism, while his co-star Benicio del Toro makes an equally indelible impression embodying the quiet dignity of resistance.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Autocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocracy. Accessed 25 Jan. 2026.
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