AUTOCRATIC Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

autocratic

adjective

ˌȯ-tə-ˈkra-tik

variants also autocratical

Definition of autocratic

as in authoritarian

exercising power or authority without interference by others democracy is supposed to protect the people against the rise of autocratic rulers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in domineering

fond of ordering people around an autocratic Boy Scout leader who is under the delusion that he's still an army colonel

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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 autocratic The student victory echoed the recent electoral defeat of a Vucic ally in Hungary, where youth participation helped oust the autocratic Viktor Orbán after 16 years and bring in a new pro-European government. — CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026 Instead, the board should function as a concert of great powers, both democratic and autocratic, tasked with managing crises and overseeing and building consensus on matters of global governance. — Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2026 Many Republican lawmakers said the president’s move would benefit an autocratic government that invaded its neighbor, Ukraine. — ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026 Political transitions are the midnight hour for all autocratic regimes. — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 13 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for autocratic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocratic

Adjective

Meanwhile, Democrats are strongly opposed to the kind of corrupt authoritarian government that Republicans seem unwilling to even speak out against.

— Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
Many international scholars have described Mao as an authoritarian leader, pointing to his centralized rule, political purges, and aggressive state campaigns, including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

— Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of authoritarian

Adjective

Lee recognizes the potential for that in the servant and chooses not to do these things, or at least not do them in a domineering or self-serving way.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
Sources said Gunning plays Annie, a quietly dutiful wife who has sacrificed her ambitions to raise four sons under her domineering husband, Duncan.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of domineering

Adjective

The citizens group hoping to reform Connecticut’s oppressive property tax system will release its recommendations Monday, hoping to force candidates for state offices to take positions during the final push toward Election Day.

— Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026
If Chrissie represents someone who opts into the ruling system, Paul’s character shows that there are choices even within this world’s oppressive parameters.

— Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

Steve Buscemi as Harry’s regular fence; Tatiana Maslany as his estranged daughter; and Will Price as the arrogant, heat-packing scion of a Manhattan crime family also star.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026
Ever-sensible Elinor, who never asks for much, has already met, and fallen for, Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), Fanny’s brother, as kind and modest as Fanny is arrogant.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of arrogant

Adjective

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found al-Faraj’s detention arbitrary, according to a report published in December 2024.

— Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2026
Someone set the arbitrary number at ten, and the whole point of the exercise is to whittle the list down to ten.

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of arbitrary

Adjective

Any transgression of new standards of speech and behavior could put someone at risk of social banishment, in the truly despotic shape of cancellation.

— Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
The comedy of errors that follows as Ina attempts to solve the nation’s problems, from traffic congestion to energy crisis, doubles as a critique of the despotic regime and the tumult of living in such hellish times.

— Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of despotic

Adjective

But the guards did not become tyrannical, as in the Stanford experiment.

— Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026
Putting your face on the passport, like forcing your name onto another President’s memorial, is a symptom of tyrannical egotism, exactly opposite to the republican premise.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of tyrannical

Adjective

Polly, who has choreographed the family’s public image with the dictatorial control of a George Balanchine, isn’t pleased to learn that her daughter has laid the fault of her brother’s tragedy on her parents’ right-wing politics.

— Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
Standing before her guards, the increasingly dictatorial ruler proclaims herself as the Chosen One to the people of King's Landing.

— Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of dictatorial

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“Autocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocratic. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of autocratic

adjective

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