dictatorship

noun

dic·​ta·​tor·​ship dik-ˈtā-tər-ˌship 

ˈdik-ˌtā-

1

: the office of dictator

2

: autocratic rule, control, or leadership

people suffering under his dictatorship

3

a

: a form of government in which absolute power is concentrated in a dictator or a small clique

Communism and dictatorship

b

: a government organization or group in which absolute power is so concentrated

rising up against a military dictatorship

c

: a despotic state

establishing a dictatorship

Synonyms

• absolutism
• autarchy
• authoritarianism
• autocracy
• Caesarism
• czarism
• tsarism
• tzarism
• despotism
• totalism
• totalitarianism
• tyranny

Examples of dictatorship in a Sentence

The country suffered for many years under his dictatorship.

His enemies accused him of establishing a dictatorship.

Recent Examples on the Web

Critics have accused the president and his wife, vice president Rosario Murillo, of running the country as a dictatorship by violently suppressing opposition and inhibiting fair elections. —Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024

That population began growing rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s as people escaped political repression and economic hardship during dictatorships. —Carmen Sesin, NBC News, 14 Mar. 2024

The march was held on the 48th anniversary of the 1976 coup d'état, which led to a dictatorship responsible for tens of thousands of disappearances, exiles, and executions in clandestine centers. —Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 29 Mar. 2024

As Argentina on Sunday marked the most traumatic date in its modern history – the 1976 military coup that ushered in a brutal dictatorship – President Javier Milei posted a startling video that demanded justice. —Isabel Debre, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Mar. 2024

Miguel Díaz-Canel, 63, became president in 2019, taking over from Raúl Castro, 92, who still effectively leads the 65-year-old dictatorship. —Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 23 Mar. 2024

Throughout his career, Burle Marx used his fame — and, in the 1960s and ’70s, an ethically dubious role as a cultural counselor under Brazil’s military dictatorship — to denounce the destruction of the Amazon, which continues today. —Michael Snyder Pedro Kok, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024

Her future fraught with whispers of her father’s political connection to Argentina’s brutal dictatorship, she’s tasked with circumventing harsh truths to remain faithful to her destiny in the narrative that follows her through her formative years. —Holly Jones, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024

Garry Kasparov had an apt remark, as usual: Tragic, but self-inflicted by the Cuban criminal dictatorship. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 15 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

dictator + -ship, as translation of Latin dictātūra

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

dictatorship

noun

dic·​ta·​tor·​ship dik-ˈtāt-ər-ˌship 

ˈdik-ˌtāt-

1

: the office of a dictator

2

: rule, control, or leadership by one person with total power

3

: a government or country in which total power is held by a dictator or a small group