as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
concerning absolutism Lord Acton famously observed that "absolute power corrupts absolutely"
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Recent Examples of absolutism
The selection of Vance clarified the party’s absolutism.
—
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
Like some other Republican senators of his generation (Tom Cotton, of Arkansas; Josh Hawley, of Missouri; and Marco Rubio, of Florida, among them), Vance often stressed the need for Republicans to break from the free-market absolutism of the past.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
The result, in 1906, was the movement known as the Constitutional Revolution, which established a parliamentary system and brought about a short pause in Iran’s long history of absolutism.
—Amir A. Afkhami, Foreign Affairs, 2 Mar. 2020
This moral absolutism is antithetical to the university’s goal of advancing knowledge and critical inquiry.
—Jeffrey Koseff, Washington Post, 8 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post, 18 July 2024
Like some other Republican senators of his generation (Tom Cotton, of Arkansas; Josh Hawley, of Missouri; and Marco Rubio, of Florida, among them), Vance often stressed the need for Republicans to break from the free-market absolutism of the past.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
The result, in 1906, was the movement known as the Constitutional Revolution, which established a parliamentary system and brought about a short pause in Iran’s long history of absolutism.
—Amir A. Afkhami, Foreign Affairs, 2 Mar. 2020
This moral absolutism is antithetical to the university’s goal of advancing knowledge and critical inquiry.
—Jeffrey Koseff, Washington Post, 8 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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What happened in Anaheim a century ago shows how to combat tyranny and white supremacy — and also that the work is never really done.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2025
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The monster was the liberation from the tyranny of image.—
E. Alex Jung,
Vulture,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The movie recounts the experiences of Eunice Paiva and her family after her husband Rubens Paiva was taken into custody during the country’s military dictatorship.—
Eliana Dockterman,
TIME,
3 Mar. 2025
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That is quite an achievement for a film which is certainly not a popcorn movie, recording the real-life story of Eunice Pavia and her reinvention of herself and rebuilding of her family after her husband, Rubens Pavia, an opponent of Brazil’s military dictatorship, disappeared after arrest in 1971.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Here’s a Brazilian film about fighting fascism at home with big and small acts of resistance.—
Cristina Escobar,
refinery29.com,
3 Mar. 2025
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From fraught talk of cultural fascism to economic critiques of the entertainment industry, honorees and their peers predicted an uncertain but fiery future for filmmakers, cast, and crew.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
24 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Trump could also falter because a world of ambitious, colluding autocracies is difficult even for the most skillful superpower to handle.—
HAL BRANDS,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
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Following it all is independent journalist and Nobel Prize-winner Maria Ressa, with an eye toward the specter of increasing autocracy.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Cutting bureaucracy isn’t usually associated with despotism and power grabs.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
28 Feb. 2025
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Picking your form of government used to feel like an existential choice, but now despotism and oligarchy are hardly differentiated.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Time’s Echo by Jeremy Eichler Using four studies from the Second World War era—Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Benjamin Britten—this book contends with how music memorializes catastrophes and deals with totalitarianism, which may feel a bit on the nose right now.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
5 Mar. 2025
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And this particular slide into totalitarianism is a rather recent development (which gives one hope that it could be reversed).—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
26 Jan. 2025
Articles Related to absolutism
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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