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
Despite arriving deep in the midst of Brazil’s oppressive junta dictatorship, that album, 1972’s Clube da Esquina, became one of the most influential and acclaimed records in the country’s musical history.
—
Walden Green, Pitchfork, 3 Nov. 2025
To be clear, there is no sense that Rondón and Ugás are defending the old guard or suggesting that a docile, starving population pinioned under the grip of a dictatorship is big-picture preferable to a rebellious insurgency.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
Minister Kabawat is a member of the Christian minority and a longtime member of the opposition to the former dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad that was defeated by Al-Shara in late 2024.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
The East African country has been mired in civil strife ever since the central government collapsed in 1991 following a series of uprisings against the then-military dictatorship.
—Omar S Mahmood, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Walden Green, Pitchfork, 3 Nov. 2025
To be clear, there is no sense that Rondón and Ugás are defending the old guard or suggesting that a docile, starving population pinioned under the grip of a dictatorship is big-picture preferable to a rebellious insurgency.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025
Minister Kabawat is a member of the Christian minority and a longtime member of the opposition to the former dictatorship of Bashar Al-Assad that was defeated by Al-Shara in late 2024.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
The East African country has been mired in civil strife ever since the central government collapsed in 1991 following a series of uprisings against the then-military dictatorship.
—Omar S Mahmood, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
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Here in Southern California, many of our neighbors are people who had to flee socialist tyranny.—
Sal Rodriguez,
Oc Register,
7 Nov. 2025
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For them, socialism has meant only a hankering for state tyranny and brazen assaults on property rights that, together, threaten the beliefs every patriotic citizen holds dear.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorship. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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