as in dictators
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the people universally feared the tyrant, who was notorious for his frequent use of torture
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Recent Examples of tyrants
Those historians were impressed by how much personal force the old tyrants could generate.
—
David Brooks, Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2026
The world is full of bad actors—cheats, liars, tyrants, sickos—who are, ultimately, mere human beings; at least, this was how rationality would have it.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2026
That project of getting the benefits of Western civilization without its freedom and rights, that’s one that has vexed tyrants all over the world.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
After more than a century of plunder and strife, under tyrants as diverse as King Leopold II of Belgium and Mobutu Sese Seko, the present-day DRC still occupies the dark heart of the continent in much of the world’s imagination.
—Holden Frith, TheWeek, 9 Jan. 2026
The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
—ABC News, 16 Nov. 2025
History’s smallest tyrants are hard to please.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Knowing that the tyrants in the Kremlin approved all these activities does not negate their positive impact on American society.
—Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
As historian Timothy Snyder warns, tyrants will always take advantage of a national crisis to consolidate their power and remove their opponents’ civil liberties.
—Rev. Nathan Empsall, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
David Brooks, Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2026
The world is full of bad actors—cheats, liars, tyrants, sickos—who are, ultimately, mere human beings; at least, this was how rationality would have it.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2026
That project of getting the benefits of Western civilization without its freedom and rights, that’s one that has vexed tyrants all over the world.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Jan. 2026
After more than a century of plunder and strife, under tyrants as diverse as King Leopold II of Belgium and Mobutu Sese Seko, the present-day DRC still occupies the dark heart of the continent in much of the world’s imagination.
—Holden Frith, TheWeek, 9 Jan. 2026
The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
—ABC News, 16 Nov. 2025
History’s smallest tyrants are hard to please.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Knowing that the tyrants in the Kremlin approved all these activities does not negate their positive impact on American society.
—Literary Hub, 5 Nov. 2025
As historian Timothy Snyder warns, tyrants will always take advantage of a national crisis to consolidate their power and remove their opponents’ civil liberties.
—Rev. Nathan Empsall, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tyrants
dictators
Noun
-
With a bottomless well of ideas, relentless encouragement, and a grin that only seems to widen by the season, the Wichita, Kansas, native runs TV’s most prolific reality competition series as the most benevolent of dictators.—
David Canfield,
Vanity Fair,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Based in Boston, the international corporation networked with dictators and local officials in Central America, many Caribbean islands and parts of South America to acquire immense estates for railroads and banana plantations.—
Aaron Coy Moulton,
The Conversation,
15 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tyrants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tyrants. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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