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
In just 13 years, Putin warped Russia’s once-promising constitutional democracy into an authoritarian dictatorship.
—
Big Think, 14 Apr. 2026
Mexico is neither at war nor under a military dictatorship, yet thousands of people disappear every year amid cartel violence.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Authorities in Romania, under the strict communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, granted Lucescu’s family a move that month to Hunedoara, 400km north-west of the capital.
—Colin Millar, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2026
For the Turkmen people, there was nothing comical about life under his dictatorship.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Big Think, 14 Apr. 2026
Mexico is neither at war nor under a military dictatorship, yet thousands of people disappear every year amid cartel violence.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Authorities in Romania, under the strict communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, granted Lucescu’s family a move that month to Hunedoara, 400km north-west of the capital.
—Colin Millar, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2026
For the Turkmen people, there was nothing comical about life under his dictatorship.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
-
Without constant reinforcement, these muscles will atrophy, and when real tyranny arrives, the flabby citizen will be powerless to resist.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
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Focus Features has set a Sept 11 release for the Paul Greengrass directed, Andrew Garfield starring The Uprising, which follows the untold true story of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The questions and solutions change with every performance, ranging from Masli making difficult phone calls on an audience member’s behalf, recovering a long-missing recipe, finding the name of an old song or ending global fascism.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Apr. 2026
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There are so many good folks who are carving out community and lifting each other up in the face of fascism.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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If Magyar fails to fix the system and deliver results, a return to autocracy would be likely.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
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Since 2021, the state has been grappling with slowing economic output, weaning itself off a property market bubble, and trying to find a balance between promoting a free market and stock exchange within a one-party autocracy.—
Joseph Wilkins,Sean Conlon,
CNBC,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Eight decades later, as nations inch toward despotism, an art animated by democratic impulses makes a stronger case for itself.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2026
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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
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorship. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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