1
as in monarchism
a system of government in which there is only one ruler whose power is unlimited
Under a monarchy, the position of ruler is often passed down from parent to child.
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2
as in democracy
a group of people who live in a territory ruled by a single person
The country was formerly a monarchy, but has now transitioned to a republic.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of monarchy
Father-to-son succession has been frowned upon since the monarchy was topped in 1979.
—
Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 9 Mar. 2026
His early childhood coincided with his father’s rise as a revolutionary figurehead opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
—Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
This was the era when the monarchy was terminated, ushering in a Marxist government that changed the face of the country and left a lasting impression on the world at large.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 8 Mar. 2026
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the third person to lead the Islamic Republic and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution.
—Patrick Sykes, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for monarchy
Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 9 Mar. 2026
His early childhood coincided with his father’s rise as a revolutionary figurehead opposing the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
—Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 8 Mar. 2026
This was the era when the monarchy was terminated, ushering in a Marxist government that changed the face of the country and left a lasting impression on the world at large.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 8 Mar. 2026
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the third person to lead the Islamic Republic and the first example of hereditary succession since the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy in the 1979 revolution.
—Patrick Sykes, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for monarchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for monarchy
Noun
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But for anyone outside the British elite, the constitutional monarchism that emerged after the civil wars did not look much like democracy or true liberty.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harper's Magazine,
20 Aug. 2024
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And the Decemberists tried to overthrow the Tsar and insist on having some of the more basic aspects of representative constitutional monarchism introduced into Russia.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Dec. 2022
Noun
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Addressing a crowd of at least 100,000 on Budapest's Heroes' Square, Magyar charged Orbán's government with turning Hungarians against one another through propaganda and divisive policies, and of steering the country away from its rightful place among Western democracies.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Mar. 2026
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The same is true of Ukraine, whose democracy (with its substantial flaws) Russia could not abide as a standing alternative to its own system, and of Taiwan, which cannot threaten China, but whose flourishing demonstrates that Beijing’s system is not the only option.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There was no foreseeable impediment to our messy but functional republic.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
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After all, Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco, who led the overthrow of the republic and then ruled from 1939 until his death in 1975, still casts a long, and often painful, shadow.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, established a religious dictatorship that subjugates the Iranian people under sharia law, while zealously exporting its dogma by force.—
Elan Journo,
Oc Register,
10 Mar. 2026
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Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz’s ‘Another League’ chronicles the defiant birth of women’s soccer in the waning years of Francisco Franco’s arcane dictatorship in early 1970s Spain – today the reigning world champions after winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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All of Mabel’s new forest friends—there are deer, rabbits, turtles, raccoons, and a singularly gloomy bear—bow down to a beaver sovereign, King George (Bobby Moynihan), a gregarious and naïve soul who embraces a humble, communal ideal of living.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2026
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Whatever their precise content, the blessings of liberty allow people to be something like sovereigns over their own lives.—
Cass Sunstein,
Big Think,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said its systems intercepted and destroyed 10 drones over the capital, Riyadh, and the kingdom’s eastern region.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 Mar. 2026
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The kingdom built a pipeline stretching across the country during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s to prepare for exactly this kind of disruption.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Kay Scarpetta is, like many protagonists of these sorts of stories, a remarkable and mythical investigator, returning to her old job as chief medical examiner of the commonwealth of Virginia in order to spend more time with her grieving niece, Lucy (DeBose), who has lost her wife.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
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Schools across the commonwealth are kicking off their spring breaks in the coming weeks, meaning locals will be hopping in their cars to visit family and travel.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Grateful to the Packers organization, my teammates, and Packers nation for seven great years.—
SportsDay Staff,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Mar. 2026
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This season, North Crowley will be a hard team to eliminate, as the squad has been one of the most dominant not just in Texas, but the entire nation.—
Charles Baggarly,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Monarchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monarchy. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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