as in democracy
government in which the supreme power is held by the people and used by them directly or indirectly through representation
when asked by a passerby what sort of government the constitutional convention had formulated for the new nation, Benjamin Franklin memorably replied, "A republic, if you can keep it"
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Recent Examples of republic
The system does not permit the president to undo the laws and institutions of the American republic by fiat.
—
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2025
Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, spent years arguing that America is a republic, not a democracy, and that its system of checks and balances is more important than the will of the people.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
Like its more famous counterparts, Noli once packed some considerable sea-faring clout, existing as an independent maritime republic from the late 12th century until it was overtaken by Napoleonic forces in 1797.
—Catherine Sabino, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
The two-term limit on the presidency that Mr. Trump wants to contravene has its roots in the beginning of the republic when George Washington voluntarily stepped down after eight years as the country’s first president, setting a precedent for those who would follow.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for republic
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2025
Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, spent years arguing that America is a republic, not a democracy, and that its system of checks and balances is more important than the will of the people.
—Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
Like its more famous counterparts, Noli once packed some considerable sea-faring clout, existing as an independent maritime republic from the late 12th century until it was overtaken by Napoleonic forces in 1797.
—Catherine Sabino, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
The two-term limit on the presidency that Mr. Trump wants to contravene has its roots in the beginning of the republic when George Washington voluntarily stepped down after eight years as the country’s first president, setting a precedent for those who would follow.
—Peter Baker, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for republic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for republic
Noun
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But perhaps the most serious rebuke to the liberal international order has come from inside the democracies, where populist parties have hitched economic grievances, anti-immigrant sentiments, and the loss of faith in their own elites and institutions to an authoritarian domestic turn.—
Margaret MacMillan,
The Atlantic,
30 Apr. 2025
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The federal courts have toggled back and forth between narrow and liberal interpretations of the Constitution’s applicability to immigrants facing deportation – shifts that reflect competing visions of American nationhood and the boundaries of liberal democracy.—
Rick Baldoz,
The Conversation,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Republic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/republic. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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