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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dictatorship
There is no dispute that Maduro’s dictatorship led to Venezuela’s catastrophic collapse.
—
Monica Duffy Toft, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2026
Its leaders and activists have tried and failed to bring down the dictatorship by many other means in the nearly 13 years since Maduro succeeded the far more charismatic Chávez as Venezuela’s strongman.
—Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
Anything is possible with a regime in charge that’s sort of like a dictatorship.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2026
Stripping work authorization from our neighbors weakens our community and forces families back into the arms of a dictatorship.
—Elijah Manley, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Monica Duffy Toft, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2026
Its leaders and activists have tried and failed to bring down the dictatorship by many other means in the nearly 13 years since Maduro succeeded the far more charismatic Chávez as Venezuela’s strongman.
—Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 5 Jan. 2026
Anything is possible with a regime in charge that’s sort of like a dictatorship.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2026
Stripping work authorization from our neighbors weakens our community and forces families back into the arms of a dictatorship.
—Elijah Manley, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
-
Continue reading … 'HISTORIC DAY' – Venezuelan opposition leader celebrates January 3 as 'day that justice defeated tyranny' after Maduro capture.—
,
FOXNews.com,
6 Jan. 2026
-
In the past, a popular uprising or a coup could bring tyranny to an end.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
These achievements made the United States the political model of the liberal state, which displaced the monarchical dynasties of Europe in the nineteenth century, then rescued Western civilization from the totalitarian despotisms of Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union in the twentieth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
In recent months, as despotism intensified an increasing number of writers, scholars, and thinkers were declared foreign agents, and their books were taken off the shelves.—
Nina Khrushcheva,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorship. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share