1
as in authoritarian
exercising power or authority without interference by others
a dictatorial leader with total control over people's lives
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in domineering
fond of ordering people around
no surprise that the dictatorial manager is highly unpopular among employees
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in arbitrary
having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity
even the teachers chafed under the dictatorial rule of the principal
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dictatorial
International election watchdogs, including the United States, say Maduro manipulated the ballot results in order to steal a third term in office and continue his dictatorial reign.
—
Alana Wise, NPR, 3 Jan. 2026
There was a vaguely communist atmosphere on set—not dictatorial, not Putin-like.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
Ultimately, the International Criminal Court charged Sudan's former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir with genocide.
—Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 28 Nov. 2025
Under Franco’s dictatorial regime, women’s roles were rigidly controlled by the ideology of National Catholicism, which linked femininity, motherhood and loyalty to the state.
—Zaya Rustamova, The Conversation, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictatorial
Alana Wise, NPR, 3 Jan. 2026
There was a vaguely communist atmosphere on set—not dictatorial, not Putin-like.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 30 Nov. 2025
Ultimately, the International Criminal Court charged Sudan's former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir with genocide.
—Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 28 Nov. 2025
Under Franco’s dictatorial regime, women’s roles were rigidly controlled by the ideology of National Catholicism, which linked femininity, motherhood and loyalty to the state.
—Zaya Rustamova, The Conversation, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictatorial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorial
Adjective
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Yet the tyrannical impulse of authoritarian populists is the same across the world.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
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Simultaneously, the rise of populist, authoritarian leaders and the radical right is destabilizing democracies.—
Time,
Time,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Sophie Turner plays Anne, living in the countryside and struggling in poverty with her domineering mother-in-law Morwen (Harden).—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Feb. 2026
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This is the rare movie adaptation that does cover the second half of the book, and our first glimpse of Heathcliff is as the domineering terror of his later years.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But hitting arbitrary targets has never been the point of the ratings game; what really matters in Milan is that NBC is clearing all its guarantees to advertisers.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
20 Feb. 2026
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Lusverti added that the list of beneficiaries fails to cover key periods of arbitrary detentions, including cases between 2020 and 2024, and raised concerns that the same courts that ordered the imprisonments are now responsible for administering the amnesty.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The case also involves accusations of oppressive schedules and curtailed opportunities for sponsorships.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
25 Feb. 2026
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Embedded in a patriarchal family within an oppressive society, Mrie faces the challenge of disentangling herself from both.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Maekar refuses, earning a cutting rebuttal from Dunk about the royal upbringing that turned Daeron (Henry Ashton) into a drunken coward and Aerion into an arrogant and cruel madman.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
23 Feb. 2026
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And ironically, the most arrogant ones are the worst ones.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
11 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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The book explains the world order as three despotic governments that horrifically dominate their citizens, control their respective satellite allies and are always at war.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 Feb. 2026
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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
Adjective
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In the 1953 steel-seizure case, Jackson concluded with a warning about the importance of parliamentary deliberation to check a tyrannical executive.—
Jeffrey Rosen,
The Atlantic,
25 Feb. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorial. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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