as in ruler
one who rules over a people with a sole, supreme, and usually hereditary authority
European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God
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Recent Examples of autocrat
Comments like that fuel criticism of Orbán as an autocrat.
—
Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2026
The lurch from declaring fears about Iran to be mere media exaggerations to invoking imminent threat, from demanding the Nobel Peace Prize to luxuriating in lethality, is the essence of the autocrat’s monopoly on unpredictability.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
Even as long-reigning autocrats such as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are removed from power, the outlook for the global state of democracy remains highly uncertain.
—Yana Gorokhovskaia, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
And Barack Obama deployed the military to take out Libyan autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.
—Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocrat
Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2026
The lurch from declaring fears about Iran to be mere media exaggerations to invoking imminent threat, from demanding the Nobel Peace Prize to luxuriating in lethality, is the essence of the autocrat’s monopoly on unpredictability.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
Even as long-reigning autocrats such as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are removed from power, the outlook for the global state of democracy remains highly uncertain.
—Yana Gorokhovskaia, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
And Barack Obama deployed the military to take out Libyan autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.
—Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocrat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocrat
Noun
-
The storyline will follow Shaikh Ali from his time as a young ruler who inherits Bahrain’s throne at 19-years-old following the death of his father.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
13 May 2026
-
Iran has installed rulers even more conservative and hardline than their predecessors.—
Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial Boards,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
Specifically, the monarch's historic address to a session of Congress, which followed in the footsteps of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, was highly praised.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
11 May 2026
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But sometimes, the monarch wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
10 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocrat. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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