autocratic

adjective

ˌȯ-tə-ˈkra-tik How to pronounce autocratic (audio)
variants also autocratical
Definition of autocraticnext
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

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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

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 Roberts’s opinion took no heed of the current President’s autocratic impulses. — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026 His government has promised political and economic reform after decades of autocratic rule under the Assad family. — Abdulrahman Shaheen, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026 My answer focuses on the role of autocratic political elites – that is, the party officials, military officers and other regime insiders who control the state. — José Kaire, The Conversation, 17 July 2026 His government has promised political and economic reform after decades of autocratic rule of the Assad family, which ended when former President Bashar Assad was ousted in an insurgent offensive in December 2024 led by al-Sharaa. — ABC News, 9 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for autocratic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocratic
  1. authoritarian
  2. domineering
  3. oppressive
  4. arrogant
  5. arbitrary
  6. despotic
  7. tyrannical
  8. dictatorial
Adjective
  • Castro’s death could also spark the sort of power struggles among factions that usually follow the death of an authoritarian leader.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026
  • By eroding the feedback loop that every stable government—even the most authoritarian—needs to stay in power, the Putin regime is becoming less capable of understanding the real condition of Russia.
    — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of authoritarian
Adjective
  • She’s played with a darkly enigmatic, unnerving quality by James in her finest work to date — a knowing, even domineering smile often curling around her lips.
    — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Rebecca Hall, playing his elegantly domineering wife, gets even less.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of domineering
Adjective
  • In Atlanta, high temps are expected in the mid-90s on Friday, and the humidity will make the heat feel more oppressive.
    — Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Such tools for combating oppressive heat look prescient now, but Stierli isn’t impressed; Tropical Modernism was sensitive to the region’s climate but not to its culture.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of oppressive
Adjective
  • Everybody on our side understands that impeachment is a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense against a president acting like a king, an imperious, lawless, arrogant king.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Most obviously, front and center, and in endlessly intrusive close-up, there’s Pattinson — who also serves as producer — playing the arrogant, fame-addicted, megalomaniac Hansen.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of arrogant
Adjective
  • Vucic has pushed hard against the protesters, sparking international concern over police violence and arbitrary detentions.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Vucic has pushed hard against the protesters as the government faced international criticism over police violence and arbitrary detentions of demonstrators.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Sep. 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
  • There, the tyrannical February has condemned its inhabitants to eternal winter and forbids them from flying, while a masked resistance movement known as The Solution fights to restore light and freedom.
    — Alexandra Patterson, Variety, 3 Sep. 2026
  • The 2015 action film, set in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, stars Theron as warrior Imperator Furiosa, who leads the daring escape of female prisoners from a tyrannical ruler.
    — Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of tyrannical
Adjective
  • 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
  • In 2024, Margo is hired to find the book that disappeared, along with many others, through the dictatorial years.
    — The Know, Denver Post, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of dictatorial

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Cite this Entry

“Autocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocratic. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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