1
as in authoritarian
fond of ordering people around
the governor's peremptory personal assistant began telling the crowd of reporters and photographers exactly where they had to stand
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in compulsory
forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law
a peremptory summons to appear before the committee
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3
as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
she had such a peremptory approach to running the club that people started to avoid her
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4
as in arbitrary
having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity
a peremptory insistence that the staff wait on them first
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of peremptory
The lawyers accused prosecutors of using seven of their nine peremptory strikes to remove Black jurors from the prospective panel before the final jury was selected.
—
Rolling Stone, 16 June 2025
The defense challenged some of the government’s peremptory strikes over suggestions of racial bias.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 13 May 2025
The selection process included the use of peremptory strikes by both the prosecution and defense, allowing each side to dismiss certain jurors without giving a reason.
—Amanda Castro
joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025
Friday was the day that attorneys for the prosecution and defense would further question the 43 men and women from the jury pool, whittling that group down to 12 jurors and six alternates by exercising their peremptory strikes.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for peremptory
Rolling Stone, 16 June 2025
The defense challenged some of the government’s peremptory strikes over suggestions of racial bias.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 13 May 2025
The selection process included the use of peremptory strikes by both the prosecution and defense, allowing each side to dismiss certain jurors without giving a reason.
—Amanda Castro
joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025
Friday was the day that attorneys for the prosecution and defense would further question the 43 men and women from the jury pool, whittling that group down to 12 jurors and six alternates by exercising their peremptory strikes.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for peremptory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peremptory
Adjective
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In other words, diaspora activists may advocate positions that resonate with Western audiences, but find little support among those actually living under authoritarian rule.—
Michael Paarlberg,
The Conversation,
12 Feb. 2026
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Trump’s steamrolling of anything, including the Constitution, that might impede his authoritarian project has made the limpness of the Democratic opposition more conspicuous.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Where military service is compulsory, and may only disappoint our best or even worst men, but can be interrupted, thank god, by life’s hairpin turns.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
16 Feb. 2026
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European and American teachings focused more on compulsory figures, the basic patterns skaters would trace across the ice that give the sport its name.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And ironically, the most arrogant ones are the worst ones.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
11 Feb. 2026
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But there’s a throughline in Smith’s most popular works — he’s been cast repeatedly as a villain, and usually an arrogant or smug one.—
Sophia Solano,
Washington Post,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The colonists were subject to arbitrary taxation, warrantless searches, standing armies in their homes, and other evils at the hands of the crown.—
Agustina Vergara Cid,
Oc Register,
15 Feb. 2026
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Judges could reason the NCAA interpreting rules to allow pros from some leagues, but not others, is hypocritical and arbitrary.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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This is the rare movie adaptation that does cover the second half of the book, and our first glimpse of Heathcliff is as the domineering terror of his later years.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2026
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Even though Kenneth was the one to shoot Sheridan, both the jury and the judge accepted the prosecution's argument that Ronald was the domineering brother and had planned and directed the killing.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Between attorney fees, court filing fees and mandatory credit counseling courses, the upfront and ongoing costs of a Chapter 13 case can cost thousands of dollars.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
19 Feb. 2026
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Sykes, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, ruled in November and again in December that the mandatory detention policy violated an act of Congress.—
Sudhin Thanawala,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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High-resistivity wafers enter the high-level injection regime more readily than low-resistivity ones, a physical characteristic that underlies their superior intrinsic potential for achieving high fill factors.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Feb. 2026
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Alas, the reality of sports demands that true greatness is measured only on the biggest stage, where the physical strength and innate talent gifted to every superior athlete takes a backseat to mental fortitude.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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That fluency can sound authoritative, even though AI is not assessing context or consequence.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Feb. 2026
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The essay, included in Arendt’s epoch-making 1951 book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, would profoundly influence some of the most authoritative scholars of modern France.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Peremptory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peremptory. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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