as in tyrant
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the dictatorship had scarcely been overthrown when the formerly oppressed suddenly abandoned their democratic ideals and became the oppressors
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppressor
Noun
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President Trump is, once again, testing the limits of his power, hoping to intimidate other cities into submission to his every vengeful whim by making the once unimaginable—an American tyrant ordering a military occupation of our own capital—a terrifying reality.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025 -
Jack Nicholson’s McMurphy, a swaggering trickster figure, clashes with the institution’s quiet tyrant, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), in a battle not just of wills, but of worldviews: chaos versus order, freedom versus conformity.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
29 July 2025
Noun
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So, this is all an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator in Washington, D.C.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Aug. 2025
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This perception stems largely from the grip of the country’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.—
SVIATLANA TSIKHANOUSKAYA,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Aug. 2025
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“Oppressor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppressor. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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