as in oppressive
controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed
A totalitarian state that did not even allow outsiders to visit.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in authoritarian
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of totalitarian
David Frum, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
Paksa restages the medium’s tendency toward repetition but strips it of entertainment value, revealing the medium as an extension of totalitarian control.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
Some of his most popular works were surrealistic fantasies set in grisly worlds run by totalitarians and conformists.
—Fox News, 28 June 2018
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
This is a totalitarian ideological regime.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2026
Paksa restages the medium’s tendency toward repetition but strips it of entertainment value, revealing the medium as an extension of totalitarian control.
—Daniel R. Quiles, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
Noun
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
Some of his most popular works were surrealistic fantasies set in grisly worlds run by totalitarians and conformists.
—Fox News, 28 June 2018
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
-
Refusing to abide by aspects of the oppressive and budget-busting Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is as good a place to start as any.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The third was to free the Iranian people from a brutally oppressive government and move the country toward democratic representation reflecting the aspirations and talents of its 90 million people.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Khomeini was a leader of opposition to the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, an authoritarian who wanted to modernize the country.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Khamenei, 87, who had been in power for more than three decades, was viewed by critics as a repressive authoritarian responsible for the mass murder of thousands of protesters and other human rights abuses.—
Julian Roberts-Grmela,
New York Daily News,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Biden put this sentiment into action by working with Netanyahu despite serious moral and political failures in Gaza, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on NATO expansion, and with Gulf potentates on the region’s security architecture.—
James Jeffrey,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Nov. 2025
-
Why don’t all the rich potentates, sheiks, oligarchs and MAGA dictators meet and fix it?—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
Comments like that fuel criticism of Orbán as an autocrat.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The lurch from declaring fears about Iran to be mere media exaggerations to invoking imminent threat, from demanding the Nobel Peace Prize to luxuriating in lethality, is the essence of the autocrat’s monopoly on unpredictability.—
Fintan O’Toole,
The New York Review of Books,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And, as in the days of the Turkmen dictator, everyone fell into line.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Imperatori-Lee said that global reach gave him a first-hand perspective on how Washington’s economic and military policies — including backing dictators in Latin America — have negatively affected less powerful nations and their citizens.—
Bill Barrow,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
In the propaganda video, the narrator mentions the core Shiite religious figures Ali and Hussein, the first and third Shiite Imams, respectively, as well as the Battle of Karbala, a seventh-century uprising by Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, against a tyrant named Yazid.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
-
Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant.—
Killian Baarlaer,
Louisville Courier Journal,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
