as in tyrant
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the dictator had a fierce stranglehold on the country, keeping its people in poverty and ignorance
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Recent Examples of dictator
Powell suggested Dominion machines were originally designed to alter votes for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez, and that military intelligence officials should investigate the issue.
—
Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 31 July 2025
Multiple segments throughout the show depicted a cartoon version of the president getting in bed with Satan, who is shown as Trump’s lover, in a callback to the early days of the show, where Satan and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were depicted as romantic partners.
—Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
He was later toppled by a military coup in 1966, which was allegedly backed by the CIA, after he was cast as a dictator.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2025
The retiring wrestler plays an ex-Special Forces operative who takes a gig escorting a journalist into the jungles of South America to interview a dictator.
—PC Magazine, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictator
Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 31 July 2025
Multiple segments throughout the show depicted a cartoon version of the president getting in bed with Satan, who is shown as Trump’s lover, in a callback to the early days of the show, where Satan and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were depicted as romantic partners.
—Siladitya Ray, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
He was later toppled by a military coup in 1966, which was allegedly backed by the CIA, after he was cast as a dictator.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 4 Aug. 2025
The retiring wrestler plays an ex-Special Forces operative who takes a gig escorting a journalist into the jungles of South America to interview a dictator.
—PC Magazine, 1 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictator
tyrant
Noun
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President Trump is, once again, testing the limits of his power, hoping to intimidate other cities into submission to his every vengeful whim by making the once unimaginable—an American tyrant ordering a military occupation of our own capital—a terrifying reality.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
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Jack Nicholson’s McMurphy, a swaggering trickster figure, clashes with the institution’s quiet tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), in a battle not just of wills, but of worldviews: chaos versus order, freedom versus conformity.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictator. Accessed 24 Aug. 2025.
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