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
Confronting one of the darkest chapters in Argentina’s history, the 1985 play by Eduardo Pavlovsky, a psychotherapist, writer and actor, is about a man caught up in the systematic kidnapping of children during a military dictatorship.
—
Manuel Mendoza, Dallas Morning News, 5 Feb. 2026
The problem for Cuba’s dictatorship, more than the oil needed to keep homes lit, will be lack of diesel to keep the economy moving.
—Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
From 1939 to 1975, the Franco dictatorship placed Spain in the grip of repressive leadership that, among other abuses of power, exerted strict censorship over the country’s cinema.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 5 Feb. 2026
Thiel’s claim climate policy and global cooperation are precursors to a one‑world dictatorship ignores how such policies actually work.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Manuel Mendoza, Dallas Morning News, 5 Feb. 2026
The problem for Cuba’s dictatorship, more than the oil needed to keep homes lit, will be lack of diesel to keep the economy moving.
—Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
From 1939 to 1975, the Franco dictatorship placed Spain in the grip of repressive leadership that, among other abuses of power, exerted strict censorship over the country’s cinema.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 5 Feb. 2026
Thiel’s claim climate policy and global cooperation are precursors to a one‑world dictatorship ignores how such policies actually work.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 4 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
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Williams’s novel is concerned with time’s tyranny.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Bashar al-Assad, who oversaw the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of his fellow Syrians during a quarter century in power, may have achieved something new in the annals of tyranny.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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From ancient sources philosophers and poets, democrats and demagogues, found justification for everything from anarchy to fascism, and there are reasons for both justifications.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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That is really thuggish fascism.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Joy Neumeyer What do the far right’s fluctuating fortunes in Poland suggest about countries seeking an off-ramp from autocracy?—
Leah Downey,
The New York Review of Books,
7 Feb. 2026
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Amodei’s essay covers a lot of ground, from existential threats to fighting autocracy to saving jobs.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
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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 16 Feb. 2026.
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