1
as in oppressive
exercising power or authority without interference by others
studied the tyrannous rule of Stalin, communist dictator of the Soviet Union
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in authoritarian
fond of ordering people around
my older sister is a tyrannous bore who isn't happy unless she's in charge
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 tyrannous
These tyrannous tabbies don’t understand that canning is not exclusively for wet food.
—
Julie Klausner, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024
Indeed, Daniel Roher’s pulse-pumping documentary about the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has all the ingredients: a mysterious case of near-fatal poisoning, a web of for-hire hoodlums, Vladimir Putin as the tyrannous leader behind it all.
—Tomris Laffly, Harper's BAZAAR, 1 Feb. 2022
The same study posited that Fela was not the only popular musician who confronted the military and tyrannous leaders of Nigeria between independence in 1960 and Fela’s passing in 1997.
—Garhe Osiebe, Quartz Africa, 21 Feb. 2021
The patriarchs of their respective homes, Polonius (Peter Friedman) and Claudius (Ritchie Coster) enthrone themselves on the toilet, oblivious of the tumult their tyrannous treachery has wreaked. Syringes creepily replace swords.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 19 Aug. 2017
Julie Klausner, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024
Indeed, Daniel Roher’s pulse-pumping documentary about the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has all the ingredients: a mysterious case of near-fatal poisoning, a web of for-hire hoodlums, Vladimir Putin as the tyrannous leader behind it all.
—Tomris Laffly, Harper's BAZAAR, 1 Feb. 2022
The same study posited that Fela was not the only popular musician who confronted the military and tyrannous leaders of Nigeria between independence in 1960 and Fela’s passing in 1997.
—Garhe Osiebe, Quartz Africa, 21 Feb. 2021
The patriarchs of their respective homes, Polonius (Peter Friedman) and Claudius (Ritchie Coster) enthrone themselves on the toilet, oblivious of the tumult their tyrannous treachery has wreaked. Syringes creepily replace swords.
—Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 19 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tyrannous
Adjective
-
And this immensely oppressive power threatens the very foundation of legal representation in our country.—
Tom Dreisbach,
NPR,
29 Apr. 2025
-
However, because ecocriticism emerged in American studies prior to the field’s transnational turn, during a time that emphasized the localized subject as resistance to an oppressive nation-state, ecocritical thought has struggled to adapt.—
Abby Clayton,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
His parents were Italian immigrants who fled Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, and his grandmother Rosa Margherita Vassallo di Bergoglio was active in Catholic Action, formed by Italian bishops who wanted to maintain their independence from Mussolini’s authoritarian rule.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been called an authoritarian, and previous reports have noted restrictions to civil liberties.—
Graham Smith,
NPR,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Most times, these changes are a result of the over-analysis of some arbitrary KPIs meant to gauge the health and growth of the platform.—
Solo Ceesay,
Rolling Stone,
22 Apr. 2025
-
The plaintiffs had argued that the geographic targeting order was unlawfully issued without undergoing the notice-and-comment procedures prescribed by federal law and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious under federal law.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
As mild-mannered schoolteacher Mr. Lisbon, James Woods plays a quiet counterpoint to his domineering wife.—
Sezin Devi Koehler,
EW.com,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Among them towers the frighteningly domineering Honoria Glossop.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
That doesn’t portray a hero, but rather someone so arrogant as to invent his own law and appoint himself its executioner.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Fed Up in Illinois Dear Fed Up: Is Edie mean, arrogant, disobedient and rude in the presence of her parents, or has she been invited to spend time with your girls separately?—
Abigail Van Buren,
Boston Herald,
5 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
And what can today’s resistance movements facing tyrannical regimes learn from their success?—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
20 Apr. 2025
-
Howard plays himself as a tyrannical auteur who petulantly refuses to cut a vacuous scene from his overlong thriller, warding off pleas only to change his mind at the moment of truth.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
In these ways, Trump’s despotic acts are indeed without precedent in American history.—
Patrick Eddington,
Oc Register,
20 Apr. 2025
-
It was first created in 1942 specifically to serve as a foil to Axis disinformation and over the years became a beacon of hope to people living under all manner of totalitarian and despotic governments.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Critics, including autocratic governments across the region, view it as a threat.—
Omar Akour,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2025
-
This new, more favorable vision of Russia was developing its own intellectual architecture, one that married isolationism, nationalism and traditionalism with a growing appreciation for autocratic strongmen who were bending their countries to their will.—
Eric Jason Martin Tanya Pérez Ted Blaisdell,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tyrannous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tyrannous. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share