as in dictatorship
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a popular uprising replaced that nation's tyranny with freedom and democracy
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tyranny
Just days after the sadness at Annunciation, the feeling outside the church of doing something was palpable, not the endless tyranny of hoping somebody else does something.
—
Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 6 Sep. 2025
Due process is what stands between individuals and tyranny.
—Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
Qi doesn’t lessen the hardship of Chiang’s tyranny in her blunt, still direction.
—Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
In the pic, Garfield plays a legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tyranny
Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 6 Sep. 2025
Due process is what stands between individuals and tyranny.
—Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
Qi doesn’t lessen the hardship of Chiang’s tyranny in her blunt, still direction.
—Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
In the pic, Garfield plays a legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tyranny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tyranny
Noun
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In 1979, when Chile was under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, 19-year-old Soto gave birth to the twin girls in the coastal town of Hualpén in Biobío province.—
Rafael Romo,
CNN Money,
16 Sep. 2025
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The police and the prosecutor’s office, faithful tools of the dictatorship, captured 13 businessmen in just a few hours, including two who had come to negotiate at Casa Presidencial.—
Óscar Martínez & Carlos Martínez,
The Dial,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At a time when contentious words dominate our conversations—think insurrection and fascism and fake news and woke—the need for dictionaries to chronicle and explain language, and serve as its watchdog, has never been greater.—
Stefan Fatsis,
The Atlantic,
13 Sep. 2025
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The game has been viewed as a tongue in cheek critique of military dictatorships, with references to fascism and colonialism.—
Dan Gooding
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Bashar Assad regime’s collapse inspired a wave of optimism about despotism turning into democracy.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Aug. 2025
-
If not for our nation’s First Amendment, our country could quickly resemble a despotism where police forces attack reporters and quash news reports that diverge from the official view.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
15 July 2025
Noun
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The Kremlin wants to turn Ukraine into another Georgia, where pro-Russian political actors have largely captured the state and are pushing the country toward autocracy.—
DARIA KALENIUK,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Sep. 2025
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Assayas addressed the timeliness of the Putin story in a world where autocracy seems to be relentlessly on the rise.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Eclectic traditionalism, remade on an elephantine scale, is the style of totalitarianism.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
6 Sep. 2025
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Brzezinski would dedicate his academic and professional life to studying and undermining the forces of totalitarianism and authoritarianism that had overtaken his homeland during his childhood.—
Niall Ferguson,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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And when liberalism seems weak and people are impatient for change, authoritarianism or anarchism can seem suitable alternatives to many.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
11 Sep. 2025
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Key components of authoritarianism include rejecting democratic rules; denying the legitimacy of opponents; tolerating or encouraging political violence; and curtailing the civil liberties of opponents.—
Karrin Vasby Anderson,
The Conversation,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The idea that executive absolutism can be stopped by a single district judge is a romantic but inaccurate one.—
George Liebmann,
Baltimore Sun,
2 July 2025
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Its champions gradually came to reinterpret the end of licensing as a natural consequence of the Revolution of 1688—part of the progression from tyrannical absolutism to parliamentary monarchy.—
Fara Dabhoiwala,
Harpers Magazine,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tyranny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tyranny. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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