variants
also autocratical
1
as in oppressive
exercising power or authority without interference by others
democracy is supposed to protect the people against the rise of autocratic rulers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in authoritarian
fond of ordering people around
an autocratic Boy Scout leader who is under the delusion that he's still an army colonel
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of autocratic
The mineral-rich landlocked country, sandwiched between autocratic giants China and Russia, has been a hotbed of predatory behavior by business elites, while more than a quarter of the country’s 3.5 million population is mired in poverty.
—
Chad De Guzman, Time, 3 June 2025
Thirty-six years later, the avowedly autocratic Chinese Communist Party remains firmly in control of China, and the country’s economy has risen to the second highest GDP in the world.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 May 2025
People in Taiwan have watched with concern as war drags on Ukraine, another democracy targeted by a larger, autocratic neighbor — and some have even gone to join the fight against Russia.
—Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC news, 30 May 2025
The United States' chaotic autocratic lurch under President Donald Trump—in particular, its abandonment of Europe and Ukraine in favor of closer ties to Russia—has compelled European countries to get a lot more serious about their own defense.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocratic
Chad De Guzman, Time, 3 June 2025
Thirty-six years later, the avowedly autocratic Chinese Communist Party remains firmly in control of China, and the country’s economy has risen to the second highest GDP in the world.
—Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 May 2025
People in Taiwan have watched with concern as war drags on Ukraine, another democracy targeted by a larger, autocratic neighbor — and some have even gone to join the fight against Russia.
—Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC news, 30 May 2025
The United States' chaotic autocratic lurch under President Donald Trump—in particular, its abandonment of Europe and Ukraine in favor of closer ties to Russia—has compelled European countries to get a lot more serious about their own defense.
—Tom Rogers, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for autocratic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocratic
Adjective
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More than 60 years ago, my parents fled Cuba for the United States, seeking freedom from an oppressive regime that dictated what businesses produced and how products were priced.—
Carlos Cubelo,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 June 2025
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The film follows a 40-year-old widowed nurse named Mahnaz, who is struggling with a rebellious son and other complications in a heavily oppressive patriarchal context.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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But then again, almost everything Trump does is right out of the authoritarian playbook.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
8 June 2025
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Any center of liberal and free thought from pop music to Ivy League universities is vulnerable to authoritarian impulses.—
Stephen Collinson,
CNN Money,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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The scientist, more hapless than mad, must retrieve Stitch in the name of the United Galactic Federation (Hannah Waddingham voices the imperious leader).—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
21 May 2025
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Jones portrays Rosie, Ozzie’s imperious and authoritative momager.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Napoleon, the pig who takes despotic control of the farm following the revolution — voiced with haughty gusto by Seth Rogen — bears an uncanny resemblance to the current occupant of the White House.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
11 June 2025
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Bernal as a despotic and at times deluded Magellan persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold 16th century expedition to the fabled lands of the East, only to unleash a decade of devastation wreaked by European conquistadors in the Pacific as part of colonial conquests.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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The exiled poet was criticized for his arrogant attempts to influence British and American foreign policy.—
Graham Robb,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
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There is something dangerously, provocatively arrogant about his glorified gang leader looks.—
Timothy Crouse,
Rolling Stone,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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The judiciary is the last obstacle to a president with designs on tyrannical rule.—
Sonam Sheth,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 May 2025
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Coupled with his hateful rhetoric, threats, lies, erratic policies, trampling of the Constitution and abnormal fascination with childish superlatives, tyrannical figures and Soviet-era style military parades, there’s much to be concerned about.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
11 May 2025
Adjective
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The most authoritative research on the risk to California was conducted in 2015, but little has changed in the past decade.—
Terry Collins,
USA Today,
8 June 2025
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In fact, their literature review suggests that many dog owners naturally fall into parenting patterns that largely mirror those of actual parents: permissive, authoritarian or authoritative.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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But voters had a clear choice between Harris’ decency and Trump’s demagoguery, paranoia and dictatorial ideas.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
29 May 2025
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Trump’s assertion of dictatorial power — and widespread acceptance of such power across American society — fatally broke the republic’s structure.—
Joe Mathews,
Mercury News,
25 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Autocratic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocratic. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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