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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dictatorship
Desai, whose directorial work at the Taper thus far has brought together rave and rebellion, smoothly merges the Dionysian frenzy of the music with the nonviolent revolution that ended Ferdinand Marcos’ protracted dictatorship in 1986.
—
Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
His rise to power was preceded by Park Chung Hee’s sixteen-year militarized dictatorship before his assassination in 1979.
—Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
Inspired by true events and shot in black and white, the movie has been described as the first Latin American thriller to explore the inner workings of the military during the dictatorships of the 1970s.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 Feb. 2026
In this country, unlike in dictatorships, people expect to be able to identify law enforcement officers by sight and by badge number.
—William Robiner, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
His rise to power was preceded by Park Chung Hee’s sixteen-year militarized dictatorship before his assassination in 1979.
—Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026
Inspired by true events and shot in black and white, the movie has been described as the first Latin American thriller to explore the inner workings of the military during the dictatorships of the 1970s.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 Feb. 2026
In this country, unlike in dictatorships, people expect to be able to identify law enforcement officers by sight and by badge number.
—William Robiner, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
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In 2012, Manbij became one of the first Syrian cities to wrest itself from the tyranny of the dictator Bashar al-Assad.—
Anand Gopal,
New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2026
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The last was King Charles I, who was tried and executed in 1649 for high treason and tyranny.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
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What if Scream 7 were about the way nostalgia has become a corrosive force in entertainment, where familiar IP wins out over original ideas, and in the country at large, where fascism promises a return to a past ideal that never existed?—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
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To disassociate Braunau from Hitler’s legacy, the town government in 1989 placed a granite block from the Mauthausen concentration camp quarry before the building, inscribed with a memorial to the victims of fascism.—
Cary Lowe,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Iranian regime is a theocratic autocracy controlled by religious figureheads and hardliners fully committed to the system that enriches and bestows power upon them today.—
Alexander Langlois,
Oc Register,
18 Feb. 2026
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As the United States heads toward the midterm elections, there are growing concerns among some political scientists that the country has moved even further along the path to some form of autocracy.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
16 Feb. 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 2 Mar. 2026.
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