as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
warned that forfeiture of civil liberties for the sake of security would only result in the terror of totalism
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Recent Examples of totalism
Common sense and a mania for systematization, logical thinking and ideological totalism, are constantly at war in the French character, as a belief in instant happiness and a paranoia about imaginary enemies are in the American.
—
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalism
Noun
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The new Constitution’s supporters, known as Federalists, faced fierce opposition from Anti-Federalists who charged that a powerful national government, unrestrained by a bill of rights, would inevitably lead to tyranny.—
Donald Nieman,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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Males that tried to rule by asserting their dominance through violence, tyranny and threat did not last.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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No more communism, or fascism; no more theocracy, or monarchies.—
Richard Stengel,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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This is the thing about fascism, right?—
Helen Molesworth,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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If the Supreme Court officially makes the chief executive a unitary executive, the advancement of the public good may depend on little more than the whims of the president, a state of affairs normally more characteristic of dictatorship than democracy.—
Graham G. Dodds,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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The exec emphasized his excitement about being in the country a few months after Salles’ history-making drama about Brazil’s military dictatorship, a film that also scored nominations for best picture and actress for Fernanda Torres.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Except for a few shots of China’s President Xi presiding over a military parade, the film’s image of totalitarianism leans far more toward right-wing regimes; to leave out Mao, or Castro, feels like a mistake.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
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Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As Perez wrote, Musk’s free-speech absolutism was a fiction perpetuated by a pliant media.—
Jacob Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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The History of a Dangerous Idea, Dabhoiwala sees First Amendment absolutism in the practices of Facebook and its ilk.—
Kwame Anthony Appiah,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The documentary about the perils of authoritarianism from the author of iconic 1984 and Animal Farm premiered at Cannes.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Oct. 2025
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The rise of authoritarianism, xenophobia and nationalism is also fueling young people’s desire to act, as opportunities that were once available to their parents’ generations have nearly disappeared.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalism. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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