as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
in times of crisis, when a nation's people are frightened, there are often calls for totalitarianism
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Recent Examples of totalitarianism
In times of uncertainty, particularly under the growing threat of totalitarianism, utopian fantasies provide a way to reflect on the situation and, potentially, outline a path toward a positive outcome.
—
JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (also stylized as 1984) was published in 1949, and served as a stark warning about the dangers of totalitarianism.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
In the time between the 1933 and 1934 congress, Germany had moved even further into Nazi totalitarianism.
—Kamila Shamsie
june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarianism
JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four (also stylized as 1984) was published in 1949, and served as a stark warning about the dangers of totalitarianism.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
In the time between the 1933 and 1934 congress, Germany had moved even further into Nazi totalitarianism.
—Kamila Shamsie
june 20, Literary Hub, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarianism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarianism
Noun
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Continue reading … 'HISTORIC DAY' – Venezuelan opposition leader celebrates January 3 as 'day that justice defeated tyranny' after Maduro capture.—
,
FOXNews.com,
6 Jan. 2026
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In the past, a popular uprising or a coup could bring tyranny to an end.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Europe was collapsing under fascism.—
Philip Martin,
Washington Post,
7 Jan. 2026
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This is likewise the thrust of Salò, based on the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom, an orgiastic, disturbing carnival of torture, rape, and killing, reset by Pasolini in the town from which fascism reigned in the 1940s.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
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His socialist dictatorship, hostile to human life, crushed Venezuelans’ freedoms for years.—
Agustina Vergara Cid,
Oc Register,
7 Jan. 2026
-
One of his uncles had been part of the resistance to the right-wing military dictatorship that controlled Greece between 1967 and 1974.—
Naaman Zhou,
New Yorker,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The war from within The chronology of the last few months shows a troubling acceleration of aspirational authoritarianism.—
Mercury News & East Bay Times editorial,
Mercury News,
7 Nov. 2025
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The messy, vibrant democracy of my youth is a distant memory, snuffed out by a quarter century of ever harsher authoritarianism.—
Quico Toro,
The Atlantic,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarianism. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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