Synonyms of dictatorship

dictatorship

noun

dik-ˈtā-tər-ˌship 

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

• tyranny
• fascism
• autocracy
• despotism
• totalitarianism
• authoritarianism
• absolutism
• monarchy
• autarchy
• Caesarism
• totalism
• oppression
• Communism
• czarism
• Nazism
• domination
• monarchism
• monocracy
• Big Brother
• Big Brotherism

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• democracy
• freedom
• self-government
• self-rule
• self-governance
• autonomy
• sovereignty
• self-determination

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dictatorship

His story stretches beyond sports, touching one of Haiti’s many mysteries of Haiti’s brutal Duvalier dictatorship and reflecting on the outsize role Haitians have long played in shaping American history. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026

Virtually all contemporary dictatorships are cosplay democracies with term limits, elections, and legislatures—the few ruling, as Amos Perlmutter put it, in the name of the many. — Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026

Yet Uzbekistan's football rise has coincided with President Mirziyoyev implementing reforms — opening the country up to travel and investmentfollowing years of isolation and dictatorship under former President Islam Karimov. — Charles Maynes, NPR, 27 June 2026

China is, of course, an authoritarian state which has been criticized for maintaining a mass-surveillance system, while Brazil regained democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship. — Harry Booth, Time, 26 June 2026