as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
by the end of the 20th century many countries around the world had rejected despotism in favor of democracy
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of despotism
If not for our nation’s First Amendment, our country could quickly resemble a despotism where police forces attack reporters and quash news reports that diverge from the official view.
—
The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 15 July 2025
Can that Huntington Beach teach the rest of us a thing — or thirty — not just about how to stand up to despotism, but how to beat it back?
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
Now American culture bows down to Anna Wintour’s despotism.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 May 2025
The necessity of power sharing also meant that Congress could provide a check against despotism even if the same party held the Presidency and a majority in both houses.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for despotism
The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 15 July 2025
Can that Huntington Beach teach the rest of us a thing — or thirty — not just about how to stand up to despotism, but how to beat it back?
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
Now American culture bows down to Anna Wintour’s despotism.
—Armond White, National Review, 9 May 2025
The necessity of power sharing also meant that Congress could provide a check against despotism even if the same party held the Presidency and a majority in both houses.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for despotism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despotism
Noun
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Here in Southern California, many of our neighbors are people who had to flee socialist tyranny.—
Sal Rodriguez,
Oc Register,
7 Nov. 2025
-
For them, socialism has meant only a hankering for state tyranny and brazen assaults on property rights that, together, threaten the beliefs every patriotic citizen holds dear.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The forest for the trees Nestled between China, India and Thailand, Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 but came under military dictatorship in 1962.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Both lived under dictatorships.—
Elizabeth B. Kim,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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No World Cup has been less about the self-aggrandizement of the hosts and yet no World Cup has ever been so overtly political as the 1938 tournament, as exiles from Germany and Italy took the opportunity to make very public their opposition to fascism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Swept up in the cinema-making of Italy’s auteurs, Nicholas finds himself on the sets of Fellini’s Casanova and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, a harrowing film about the death throes and reincarnations of fascism made just before the director’s murder.—
Jasmine Vojdani,
Vulture,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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China must learn to respect the will of the people—starting with Chinese people's will to be free from autocracy.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
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Motherland combines history with family memoir, offering a fresh female view of Russia’s path to neo-Soviet autocracy under Putin.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
1 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Despotism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despotism. Accessed 18 Nov. 2025.
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