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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Even the country’s closest democratic allies and largest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, faced ridicule, seemingly arbitrary import tax rates, and threats of territorial ambition.—
Michael Wilner,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2025
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Volkswagen, meanwhile, had its own arbitrary rules, limiting subpoenas to fewer than seven days’ worth of data.—
Dell Cameron,
Wired News,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Singapore, for instance, is highly economically free but sharply socially authoritarian.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
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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The targets of Trump’s economic aggression will accept greater hardship to preserve their dignity than American voters will for the privilege of acting like arrogant menaces.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
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This feud carries on today, with Hogan having called out Hart for being too arrogant.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images Threatening to strip licenses from TV news broadcasters Journalist Maria Ressa says Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' autocratic former president, used similar tactics.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
1 May 2025
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In some cases, strongmen crave popular support, so the popular will can sustains autocratic stability.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
1 May 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 13 May. 2025.
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