variants
also tsarist
or tzarist
as in oppressive
exercising power or authority without interference by others
the trustees felt that the university needed a strong, czarist leader who could propel it to world-class status
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of czarist
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
—
Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Since tsarist times, Russia has ensured Armenia’s loyalty by promising to defend it against the Ottoman Empire (and then against its successor, Turkey) with sustained military support.
—Thomas De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 22 Sep. 2025
Benjamin Nathans
september 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025
Since tsarist times, Russia has ensured Armenia’s loyalty by promising to defend it against the Ottoman Empire (and then against its successor, Turkey) with sustained military support.
—Thomas De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for czarist
Adjective
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Some are violent in nature, showing guns pointing at the oppressive establishment, usually portrayed as pigs.—
John Ramos,
CBS News,
19 Feb. 2026
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Joan Almedilla, who plays Aurora Aquino in the Taper production, said her wish is for audiences to feel a collective call-to-action against oppressive leaders.—
Malia Mendez,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Top prize, the Golden Bear for best film, went to Ilker Çatak’s Yellow Letters, a drama following Derya (Özgü Namal) and Aziz (Tansu Biçer), two Turkish theater artists who lose their jobs due to political persecution from Turkey’s authoritarian government.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Feb. 2026
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Democrats have warned that the administration is pushing an authoritarian approach that violates constitutional rights, and polls show most people disapprove of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The colonists were subject to arbitrary taxation, warrantless searches, standing armies in their homes, and other evils at the hands of the crown.—
Agustina Vergara Cid,
Oc Register,
15 Feb. 2026
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Judges could reason the NCAA interpreting rules to allow pros from some leagues, but not others, is hypocritical and arbitrary.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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With the Republican Congress fawning at his feet, the ideal of democracy that the will of the people governs the nation is being buried under multimedia waves of the autocratic ambition of wealth.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
21 Feb. 2026
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Leaving him out is like ignoring the massive autocratic elephant in the room.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Healing the nation Up to 1,400 people were killed in the July 2024 revolution that toppled Hasina in addition to some 3,500 extrajudicially disappeared during the last 15 years of her despotic reign.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
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The first Mistborn trilogy of books centered on metal-using magicians who attempt to overthrow a despotic empire.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The House of the Spirits is a family saga that charts the Trueba family through multiple generations, spanning violent social change and culminating in a crisis that hurls a tyrannical patriarch and his beloved granddaughter towards opposite sides of the fence.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
17 Feb. 2026
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They might also be saddened that 250 years after declaring independence from a tyrannical British king, the American system of government has arguably less democratic accountability for its leaders than the British one.—
Idrees Kahloon,
The Atlantic,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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These tyrannous tabbies don’t understand that canning is not exclusively for wet food.—
Julie Klausner,
Vulture,
27 Dec. 2024
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Indeed, Daniel Roher’s pulse-pumping documentary about the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has all the ingredients: a mysterious case of near-fatal poisoning, a web of for-hire hoodlums, Vladimir Putin as the tyrannous leader behind it all.—
Tomris Laffly,
Harper's BAZAAR,
1 Feb. 2022
Adjective
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The judge was absolutely incredulous about the contractual argument and the independent, dictatorial authority of the president.—
Liz Crawford,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
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Rubio has been carrying out dictatorial measures at home.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
29 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Czarist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/czarist. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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