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
Pau Mosquera,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026
The heartbreaking and ironic thing is that democracy has given rise, through the proper, right voting mechanism, to this kind of totalitarian regime.
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Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 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
Possible sharing of nuclear secrets The claim that North Korea was the likely recipient of the two reactors allegedly aboard the ship comes after the secretive totalitarian regime released images in December 2025 of its first nuclear submarine.
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Pau Mosquera,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026
The heartbreaking and ironic thing is that democracy has given rise, through the proper, right voting mechanism, to this kind of totalitarian regime.
—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 2026
Noun
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
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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
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Dealing with extreme heat in India, where oppressive temperatures have become a matter of routine in recent years, revealed another disconnect.
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The Shah was so corrupt and oppressive that the 1979 revolution was almost inevitable.
Noun
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Yet this year so far has been a dicey one for the Russian authoritarian.
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Yet this year so far has been a dicey one for the Russian authoritarian.
Noun
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The game is a playground for Russian oligarchs, Middle Eastern potentates, and Latin American strongmen—his people.
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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.
Noun
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Trump might soon gain another ideological bedfellow in Peru with the election of Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of late autocrat Alberto Fujimori.
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Trump has made clear his disdain for NATO, his affection for Putin, gushes over autocrats, and withholds military support for Ukraine.
Noun
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Italy’s triumph over Czechoslovakia in the 1934 final which strengthened the regime of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, for example.
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One depicts Putin being cradled in the arms of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Noun
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Aegon, dragged out of King’s Landing by spymaster Lord Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) in an effort to save him from the fratricidal Aemond, gets an up-close look at the petty tyrants who have sprouted up in the countryside thanks to his impetuous rule.
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Examples range from businesses like Enron, Tyco, and Bernie Madoff, along with historical tyrants like Stalin or Hitler to modern figures like Putin, and industries like tobacco that knowingly harm users for profit.
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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