1
as in arbitrary
exercising power or authority without interference by others
a nation ruled by a series of despotic rulers, each seemingly worse than the last
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in authoritarian
fond of ordering people around
the despotic coach demands that his players obey him without question
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of despotic
Misinformation is rife in Syria, and after five decades of despotic rule, Syrians have little trust in their institutions.
—
Nafees Hamid, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2025
Vaccine resistance, in turn, was particularly pronounced among alternative health practitioners like Reuben Swinburne Clymer, who lamented how despotic doctors overrode the objections of ordinary citizens.
—Helen L. Murphey / Made By History, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025
But Valery, despite his lack of power in a despotic system, is able to help others, and finds a way to not just survive his pain but also live with its lasting effects.
—Vanessa Armstrong, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
Hip-hop regenerates constantly, and yet there has been an almost despotic grip on the throne(s) for some time.
—Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for despotic
Nafees Hamid, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2025
Vaccine resistance, in turn, was particularly pronounced among alternative health practitioners like Reuben Swinburne Clymer, who lamented how despotic doctors overrode the objections of ordinary citizens.
—Helen L. Murphey / Made By History, TIME, 29 Jan. 2025
But Valery, despite his lack of power in a despotic system, is able to help others, and finds a way to not just survive his pain but also live with its lasting effects.
—Vanessa Armstrong, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
Hip-hop regenerates constantly, and yet there has been an almost despotic grip on the throne(s) for some time.
—Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for despotic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despotic
Adjective
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The plaintiffs had argued that the geographic targeting order was unlawfully issued without undergoing the notice-and-comment procedures prescribed by federal law and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious under federal law.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Apr. 2025
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In short, protectionism grants states too much arbitrary power to intervene in the market and thus spawns more platforms for the exchange of political favors.—
JAVIER CORRALES,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Singapore, for instance, is highly economically free but sharply socially authoritarian.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
2 May 2025
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To his critics, his centralization of power and ruthless purge of opponents put Malaysia on an authoritarian trajectory.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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However, because ecocriticism emerged in American studies prior to the field’s transnational turn, during a time that emphasized the localized subject as resistance to an oppressive nation-state, ecocritical thought has struggled to adapt.—
Abby Clayton,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Apr. 2025
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And this immensely oppressive power threatens the very foundation of legal representation in our country.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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As mild-mannered schoolteacher Mr. Lisbon, James Woods plays a quiet counterpoint to his domineering wife.—
Sezin Devi Koehler,
EW.com,
21 Apr. 2025
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Among them towers the frighteningly domineering Honoria Glossop.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That doesn’t portray a hero, but rather someone so arrogant as to invent his own law and appoint himself its executioner.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2025
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Maybe so, but that’s an arrogant thing for such a young killer to say.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Critics, including autocratic governments across the region, view it as a threat.—
Omar Akour,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
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This new, more favorable vision of Russia was developing its own intellectual architecture, one that married isolationism, nationalism and traditionalism with a growing appreciation for autocratic strongmen who were bending their countries to their will.—
Eric Jason Martin Tanya Pérez Ted Blaisdell,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The Wolves rose up and defeated the tyrannical FEDRA, forcing them to abandon the quarantine zone.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
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That film focused on the 10th annual Hunger Games, which takes place decades before Snow becomes the tyrannical leader of Panem.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Compared with Russia’s dictatorial tsarist and communist eras and its chaotic decade after the Soviet Union fell, the country had never been so prosperous and so free at the same time.—
ALEXANDER GABUEV,
Foreign Affairs,
17 Apr. 2025
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Fortunately, the courts have so far blocked this dictatorial impulse.—
Steven Greenhut,
Orange County Register,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Despotic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despotic. Accessed 6 May. 2025.
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