as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a revolution that only ended up replacing one dictatorship with another
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Recent Examples of dictatorship
The Iranian dictatorship has likewise been on a mad dash to obtain nuclear weapons.
—
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar. 2026
Nobody is going to accept any more dictatorship after this everybody is aware now.
—Chierstin Roth, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
This would ease the military pressure on the Venezuelan dictatorship to follow Washington’s orders.
—Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
Then in January, the Iranian people by the millions took to the streets, demanding freedom and an end to the dictatorship which has tormented them since 1979.
—Arkansas Online, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 8 Mar. 2026
Nobody is going to accept any more dictatorship after this everybody is aware now.
—Chierstin Roth, CBS News, 5 Mar. 2026
This would ease the military pressure on the Venezuelan dictatorship to follow Washington’s orders.
—Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
Then in January, the Iranian people by the millions took to the streets, demanding freedom and an end to the dictatorship which has tormented them since 1979.
—Arkansas Online, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
-
Killing the tyrant doesn’t assure the tyranny will end.—
Nolan Finley,
Twin Cities,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Ayatollah Sayyed Abdullah Behbahani and Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Tabatabai used Islamic arguments to claim that even kings must be bound by law, and that tyranny was incompatible with religion.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Originally, the trophy seemed like Sean Penn’s to lose, for turning in an unforgettable transformation as the physical embodiment of fascism.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There’s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The hope is that the institutional reforms started by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus deliver the necessary checks and balances to avert another lurch toward despotism.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
28 Jan. 2026
-
The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorship. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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