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

The former is a liberal democracy, the latter a vicious dictatorship whose rulers kill their own people to stay in power. — Max Boot, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2026

The Bolsheviks had an ideology, a plan to destroy the old social order and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat. — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026

The war on terror also weakened the liberal state, another creature of the Cold War, whose animating purpose had been to pose capitalist liberty against Communist dictatorship. — Faisal Devji, Time, 11 Sep. 2026

Indonesia accelerated political reforms initiated in 1998 that replaced a centralized military dictatorship with a decentralized democracy. — Howard Lafranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Sep. 2026