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.
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as in authoritarian
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2022
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 3 June 2025
Orozco’s stickers of abstraction posed the question of whether abstraction—denigrated to its lowest possible level—could now serve as a last sign of resistance and redemption from the totalitarian conditions of reification.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
But, ten years later, his embrace of near-totalitarian control bears the deep imprint of his most personal beliefs about force, weakness, faith, and order.
—Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2022
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
Noun
The series had introduced Elisabeth Moss as June, a mother and wife who was captured by the totalitarian fascist regime the Republic of Gilead that had overthrown the U.S. government.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 3 June 2025
Orozco’s stickers of abstraction posed the question of whether abstraction—denigrated to its lowest possible level—could now serve as a last sign of resistance and redemption from the totalitarian conditions of reification.
—Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Artforum, 1 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
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For those still experiencing the oppressive heat, here are some tips for how to find your own bit of relief.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
27 June 2025
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But what is a heat dome, and why does the phenomenon bring oppressive heat with it?—
Denise Chow,
NBC news,
26 June 2025
Adjective
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Defending institutions of higher education from increasingly authoritarian measures is an important way to safeguard not only academic freedom, but the legacy of 1776 as well.—
Time,
Time,
1 July 2025
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Even among authoritarian regimes, differences in values can limit cooperation.—
Leon Aron,
The Atlantic,
29 June 2025
Noun
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Why don’t all the rich potentates, sheiks, oligarchs and MAGA dictators meet and fix it?—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
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With the pandemic, the year-round population of a once-seasonal resort town swelled with Manhattan refugees, those in the Trump orbit, and tech and finance potentates, many of them serious collectors like Ken Griffin and Steve Ross.—
Ben Widdicombe,
Vulture,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Like the Victor Hugo novel that inspired it, the musical rails against autocrats and the systems that elevate them.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2025
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Biden often spoke about Putin’s threat beyond Ukraine’s borders, both in terms of taking more territory in former Soviet states and emboldening autocrats around the world.—
Colin Meyn,
The Hill,
11 June 2025
Noun
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Libya’s dictator Moammar Gadhafi disarmed in 2003, at Western urging, especially from the United States, and subsequently ended up dead in a ditch.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
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Former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (left) and his great-grandson, Lazio player Romano Mussolini (right).—
Isabel van Brugen,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 June 2025
Noun
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While the modern world rages outside their four walls, everything inside is immune to the tyrant of time.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
21 June 2025
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But is that the same for employees who work for a tyrant?—
Daniel Arkin,
NBC news,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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