variants
also autocratical
1
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
2
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of autocratic
Vince still exerted autocratic control.
—
Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
The conflict exploded from a power struggle that emerged following Sudan’s transition to democracy after an uprising forced the military ouster of longtime autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Western pundits, policymakers and scholars believed that China’s economic growth would democratize the autocratic country.
—Michelle Kuo, The Dial, 14 Apr. 2026
The end of Viktor Orbán’s autocratic regime is a victory not just for Hungary, but for people who value democracy around the world.
—Asher Notheis, The Washington Examiner, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocratic
Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
The conflict exploded from a power struggle that emerged following Sudan’s transition to democracy after an uprising forced the military ouster of longtime autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Western pundits, policymakers and scholars believed that China’s economic growth would democratize the autocratic country.
—Michelle Kuo, The Dial, 14 Apr. 2026
The end of Viktor Orbán’s autocratic regime is a victory not just for Hungary, but for people who value democracy around the world.
—Asher Notheis, The Washington Examiner, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for autocratic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocratic
Adjective
-
As urbanist scholar Federico Cugurullo and geography researchers Isobel Lee and Rebecca Weir found when speaking with people involved in The Line between 2022 and 2024, the project represented a strange mixture of western science fiction aesthetics and authoritarian ambitions.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
1 May 2026
-
But under the authoritarian military regime that comes to power after a coup, being a musician is dangerous, and the Aguirres’ band, Río Babel, becomes an accidental voice of rebellion.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The new biopic of Jackson from director Antoine Fuqua and the Jackson estate paints the gloved one as the one true victim — a harmless Peter Pan figure whose own childhood was snatched away by a domineering father.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Joseph has a cruel and domineering air about him.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
An especially visually striking debut, Mosquitoes exists in a saturated hyperreality that is consummately engrossing, and announces the Bertani sisters as formidable portraitists of girlhood cast against the backdrop of an alternately beautiful and oppressive world.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Snakes, freeways, difficult men and Didion’s quiet brutality hang in the air like the oppressive heat of this unusually warm spring day.—
Maddie Connors,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The series has devolved into a hysteria that the young and arrogant Timberwolves feed on since that first quarter of Game 2.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
-
However, many thought Tilson Thomas too brash and arrogant to lead an orchestra, and, around the same time, Tilson Thomas fell in with New York’s disco-hopping crowd.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The fundamental processes governing brain health — genetics, neural and synaptic plasticity, and neuroinflammation — do not respect the arbitrary boundaries drawn between neurology and psychiatry.—
Eric J. Nestler,
STAT,
28 Apr. 2026
-
White-Jacket did cause a stir with its discussion of the arbitrary and cruel use of flogging in the US Navy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Hard to Be a God is about a planet that has not been allowed to advance beyond the Middle Ages, and descended into a filthy, despotic, and violent world.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Remarkably, among the foremost critics of Cuba’s single-party despotic rule is one of Castro’s own daughters, Alina Fernández Revuelta.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Beyond blood, these women are tied together by destiny and the decisions of the violent and tyrannical men surrounding them.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
-
All the orchestration and glamour of the rally, the glory of the Leader, was meant to tell a story—of a nation wounded from within, of a fifth column, of tyrannical foreign countries, of an economic crisis, and of a grandiose account of renewal and coming greatness.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The upper ranks of the dictatorial regime’s leadership have been decimated.—
Kazem Kazerounian,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Aggressive, a bit dictatorial’.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Autocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocratic. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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