1
as in monarchy
a system of government in which a religious body holds unlimited power
Under a theocracy, an entire nation officially follows one religion.
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2
as in democracy
a group of people who live in a territory ruled by a religious body
The country was a theocracy governed by religious leaders.
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Recent Examples of theocracy
The newly elevated leaders, including Ghalibaf, owe their power to the same authoritarian theocracy that sustained the Ayatollah’s regime.
—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
16 Apr. 2026
While The Testaments, too, is set within the separate women’s sphere of this hyperpatriarchal theocracy, its main characters sit at the top of that class system.
—
Judy Berman,
Time,
8 Apr. 2026
The political class devoted to maintaining Iran’s Shiite theocracy remains intact.
—
Jon Gambrell,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
By definition, regime change is systemic change – something that has yet to be seen in the Islamic Republic, which remains under the same authoritarian theocracy that has been in place since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for theocracy
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
16 Apr. 2026
While The Testaments, too, is set within the separate women’s sphere of this hyperpatriarchal theocracy, its main characters sit at the top of that class system.
—
Judy Berman,
Time,
8 Apr. 2026
The political class devoted to maintaining Iran’s Shiite theocracy remains intact.
—
Jon Gambrell,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
By definition, regime change is systemic change – something that has yet to be seen in the Islamic Republic, which remains under the same authoritarian theocracy that has been in place since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for theocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for theocracy
Noun
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Members of the monarchy wave from carriages, aristocrats don faintly cartoonish top hats and extravagant millinery threatens to obscure the view at every turn.
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The book explores how personal relationships, family dynamics and competing expectations have influenced the monarchy across generations of royal women.
Noun
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Even as the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence − a celebration of the founding of the world's oldest modern constitutional democracy − most Americans are mired in dissatisfaction with the nation's present and pessimism about its future.
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The solution isn’t just to completely tune out–that’s not good for either a healthy democracy or my future career prospects.
Noun
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There is also a generalized suspicion of democracy, cities, modernization, progress, cultural relativism, and materialism in favor of monarchism, agrarianism, stasis, fantasies of good versus evil, and a traditionalism that at times borders on religious fundamentalism. ..
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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.
Noun
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His kingdom, the gesture implied, was already full.
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But Curaçao knows its roots extend to the kingdom almost 5,000 miles away, on a different continent.
Noun
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Building tension gave way to war in 1982, when Argentina, then under a brutal dictatorship, sent a military expedition to the islands.
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Public anger over Chun’s dictatorship led to massive nationwide protests in 1987, forcing him to accept a constitutional revision introducing direct presidential elections, which is widely seen as the start of South Korea’s transition to democracy.
Noun
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One user, taxi driver Aleksandr, asked the head of the republic how he was supposed to support his family and pay off loans.
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America is about to turn 250 years old as a republic.
Cite this Entry
“Theocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/theocracy. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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