as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a revolution that only ended up replacing one dictatorship with another
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Recent Examples of dictatorship
There’s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship.
—
Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 12 Mar. 2026
But others in Paine — where 70 people were forcibly disappeared under the Pinochet dictatorship, more than in any other municipality in Chile — are less optimistic about the rise to power of a supporter of the regime.
—John Bartlett, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
In the case of Brazil, the militaries who led the repressive apparatus of the dictatorship got away with torture and murder through a 1979 amnesty law.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, established a religious dictatorship that subjugates the Iranian people under sharia law, while zealously exporting its dogma by force.
—Elan Journo, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 12 Mar. 2026
But others in Paine — where 70 people were forcibly disappeared under the Pinochet dictatorship, more than in any other municipality in Chile — are less optimistic about the rise to power of a supporter of the regime.
—John Bartlett, NPR, 11 Mar. 2026
In the case of Brazil, the militaries who led the repressive apparatus of the dictatorship got away with torture and murder through a 1979 amnesty law.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
Its founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, established a religious dictatorship that subjugates the Iranian people under sharia law, while zealously exporting its dogma by force.
—Elan Journo, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorship
Noun
-
Cutié, 56, knows about the tyranny many Cubans have lived under.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Was her exclusion from the political world not its own kind of tyranny?—
Moira Donegan,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Originally, the trophy seemed like Sean Penn’s to lose, for turning in an unforgettable transformation as the physical embodiment of fascism.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There’s a lot of different crumbs of what leads to the autocracy, to the potential dictatorship.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Hopefully the majority of people who still wish to live in a free society will vote in November to overturn the Republican march away from freedom and to autocracy and fascism.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
The strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of resisting it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorship. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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