variants
also tsarist
or tzarist
as in oppressive
exercising power or authority without interference by others
the trustees felt that the university needed a strong, czarist leader who could propel it to world-class status
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of czarist
In Russia, czarist monuments were replaced by statues of Communist leaders, which in turn were torn down — statues of Stalin also fell in Hungary, Georgia and Albania.
—
Culture Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
—
Benjamin Nathans
september 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Since tsarist times, Russia has ensured Armenia’s loyalty by promising to defend it against the Ottoman Empire (and then against its successor, Turkey) with sustained military support.
—
Thomas De Waal,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Sep. 2025
Culture Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.
—
Benjamin Nathans
september 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Since tsarist times, Russia has ensured Armenia’s loyalty by promising to defend it against the Ottoman Empire (and then against its successor, Turkey) with sustained military support.
—
Thomas De Waal,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for czarist
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.
Adjective
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China is, of course, an authoritarian state which has been criticized for maintaining a mass-surveillance system, while Brazil regained democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship.
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Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s 2018 book, How Democracies Die, argues that the most decisive figures in the success or failure of an authoritarian attempt are the would-be authoritarian’s ideological allies.
Adjective
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Hundreds of people have been detained and Serbia's police was accused of excessive force and arbitrary arrests.
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Hundreds of people have been detained and Serbia’s police was accused of excessive force and arbitrary arrests.
Adjective
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University students behind more than a year of protests against Vucic's increasingly autocratic rule in Serbia have been demanding early parliamentary elections for over a year but Vucic so far has refrained from setting the date.
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University students behind more than a year of protests against Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule in Serbia have been demanding early parliamentary elections for over a year, but Vucic so far has refrained from setting the date.
Adjective
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The pretence of an absolute, irresistible, despotic power, existing in every government somewhere, is incompatible with the first principle of natural right.
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The Academy rules work for countries with democratic governments but not for countries with despotic regimes.
Adjective
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This dooms the kingdom to the tyrannical rule of the villainous Priscilla (Nikki Glaser), who swoops in and snatches the throne.
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The bony villain is a warlock who stole the throne of Eternia from King Randor and now rules it with a tyrannical fist.
Adjective
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These tyrannous tabbies don’t understand that canning is not exclusively for wet food.
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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.
Adjective
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As pointed out by Cox, Zagallo was only brought in as manager in the March of 1970 after his predecessor, Saldanha, had fallen out with Brazil’s dictatorial president Emilio Medici.
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Yet, the courage and determination of lawyers who insist upon proper enforcement of the law, even in corrupt and dictatorial regimes, stand as their own form of powerful dissent.
Cite this Entry
“Czarist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/czarist. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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