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
In that film, Sierra reunites key protest-organizers from the factory’s workforce to tell their own accounts, while also presenting an overview of the Chilean dictatorship’s horrors.
—
Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 22 Jan. 2026
Before the 1990s, dictatorships usually looked the part.
—Marc Novicoff, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
The Iran Human Rights Society (IHRS) identified the soldier as Javid Khales, who was arrested during the nationwide protests of 1404, a major wave of anti-regime demonstrations from late 2025 to early 2026 calling for an end to the country’s current dictatorship.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 21 Jan. 2026
South Korean government prosecutors have recommended that former President Yoon Suk Yeol be punished with death for his stunning effort early in December 2024 to return to dictatorship.
—Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 22 Jan. 2026
Before the 1990s, dictatorships usually looked the part.
—Marc Novicoff, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
The Iran Human Rights Society (IHRS) identified the soldier as Javid Khales, who was arrested during the nationwide protests of 1404, a major wave of anti-regime demonstrations from late 2025 to early 2026 calling for an end to the country’s current dictatorship.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 21 Jan. 2026
South Korean government prosecutors have recommended that former President Yoon Suk Yeol be punished with death for his stunning effort early in December 2024 to return to dictatorship.
—Arthur I. Cyr, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
-
History does not record many cases in which a power-mad leader careening toward tyranny suddenly regained his senses and became more moderate.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Washington was a slaveholder and had fought a revolution to overthrow British tyranny.—
John Garrison Marks,
Time,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
With football, the psychology of fascism works.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Sean Penn has the showiest performance, embodying all that is ridiculous about fascism, while his co-star Benicio del Toro makes an equally indelible impression embodying the quiet dignity of resistance.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Those educated in the rise and fall of nations understand that the path is short from reactive government intervention to institutional oppressive autocracy.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
21 Jan. 2026
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The United States had never had the kind of all-encompassing domestic-security apparatus common in autocracies, whose interior departments function as political police.—
Nick Miroff,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 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
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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 30 Jan. 2026.
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