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
That balance, not absolutism, is how the U.S. will sustain leadership in the AI era.
—
Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Lyra’s quest to understand Dust brings her into confrontation with human and other worldly forces who champion moral absolutism over imagination, ignorance over knowledge, authoritarianism over free will and cold, disinterested rationality over empathy.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
As Perez wrote, Musk’s free-speech absolutism was a fiction perpetuated by a pliant media.
—Jacob Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
The History of a Dangerous Idea, Dabhoiwala sees First Amendment absolutism in the practices of Facebook and its ilk.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Paulo Carvão, Forbes.com, 22 Jan. 2026
Lyra’s quest to understand Dust brings her into confrontation with human and other worldly forces who champion moral absolutism over imagination, ignorance over knowledge, authoritarianism over free will and cold, disinterested rationality over empathy.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
As Perez wrote, Musk’s free-speech absolutism was a fiction perpetuated by a pliant media.
—Jacob Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
The History of a Dangerous Idea, Dabhoiwala sees First Amendment absolutism in the practices of Facebook and its ilk.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, The New York Review of Books, 25 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for absolutism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for absolutism
Noun
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Establishing an entirely new and competing agency is merely the pursuit of a bureaucratic gravy train, and providing it with incentives to abuse power in order to boost its own coffers is an invitation to tyranny.—
Adam Summers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
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Yet, by God’s grace, my Hispanic grandparents immigrated to the United States on July 4, 1976, and have cherished the freedoms from tyranny that have come with living here ever since.—
Stephen Mitchell,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The program, launched in 1975 during the country's military dictatorship, has successfully evolved in democratic times to reduce dependency on foreign oil.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
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President Javier Milei’s government has called for a broader account that also includes victims of left-wing guerrilla violence, which some suggest is a way to minimize the crimes of the dictatorship.—
Juan Melamed,
Sun Sentinel,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Her works explored Oedipal urges and creeping fascism.—
Laura Regensdorf,
Vogue,
31 Mar. 2026
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Hungary had a very weak civil society after 70 years of totalitarian fascism and communism.—
John Shattuck,
The Conversation,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The hope is that the institutional reforms started by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus deliver the necessary checks and balances to avert another lurch toward despotism.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
28 Jan. 2026
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The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Oil and autocracy in Venezuela The currency of exchange between America and Venezuela is oil.—
Boris Muñoz,
Time,
3 Apr. 2026
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But in an autocracy with a leader who is quick to promote allies and punish dissenters, officials have far more reason to implement Xi’s policy preferences than to challenge them.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In her book, Richard explains how a small group of wealthy people have led the country into authoritarianism, waging war on US ideals.—
Melinda Moore,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
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His themes intersect with those of Kiarostami—an anti-authoritarianism that, though no less radical, is an ironic, self-deprecating one.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Jury President Wim Wenders praised the film for its portrait of life under totalitarianism saying the story would chime with and serve as a wakeup call for people all over the world.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
21 Feb. 2026
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His loathing for totalitarianism was among the very few hatreds Reagan ever held, his biographer Edmund Morris said.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Absolutism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/absolutism. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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