1
as in monarchy
a system of government in which a religious body holds unlimited power
Under a theocracy, an entire nation officially follows one religion.
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2
as in democracy
a group of people who live in a territory ruled by a religious body
The country was a theocracy governed by religious leaders.
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Recent Examples of theocracy
Pezeshkian's message, seemingly recorded in a hurry, underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy's leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and other countries.
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Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
Pezeshkian’s message, seemingly recorded in a hurry, underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and other countries.
—Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2026
The leaders of the new Shia Muslim theocracy thought of America as an intruder in the Middle East, and an obstacle to the mullahs' goal of spreading their Islamic revolution.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 8 Mar. 2026
Pezeshkian and other Iranian leaders have underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls ballistic missiles used to target Israel and other countries.
—ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for theocracy
Arkansas Online, 8 Mar. 2026
Pezeshkian’s message, seemingly recorded in a hurry, underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and other countries.
—Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2026
The leaders of the new Shia Muslim theocracy thought of America as an intruder in the Middle East, and an obstacle to the mullahs' goal of spreading their Islamic revolution.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 8 Mar. 2026
Pezeshkian and other Iranian leaders have underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls ballistic missiles used to target Israel and other countries.
—ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for theocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for theocracy
Noun
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The succession from father to son is notable because the revolution overthrew a hereditary monarchy.—
Jennifer Jacobs,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
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All of this comes as reports that the two will lose a lot of their privileges as the monarchy shrinks in the future.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Addressing a crowd of at least 100,000 on Budapest's Heroes' Square, Magyar charged Orbán's government with turning Hungarians against one another through propaganda and divisive policies, and of steering the country away from its rightful place among Western democracies.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
16 Mar. 2026
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The same is true of Ukraine, whose democracy (with its substantial flaws) Russia could not abide as a standing alternative to its own system, and of Taiwan, which cannot threaten China, but whose flourishing demonstrates that Beijing’s system is not the only option.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But for anyone outside the British elite, the constitutional monarchism that emerged after the civil wars did not look much like democracy or true liberty.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harper's Magazine,
20 Aug. 2024
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And the Decemberists tried to overthrow the Tsar and insist on having some of the more basic aspects of representative constitutional monarchism introduced into Russia.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Dec. 2022
Noun
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Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said its systems intercepted and destroyed 10 drones over the capital, Riyadh, and the kingdom’s eastern region.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 Mar. 2026
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The kingdom built a pipeline stretching across the country during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s to prepare for exactly this kind of disruption.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The White House believes Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is calling the shots, a significant change from the theocratic dictatorship that has existed since the country's 1979 revolution.—
Jennifer Jacobs,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
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Where the Silence Is Heard follows her journey of renovating the house and piecing together her family’s history, which has been colored by the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, exile, and decades of silence.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Some 60% of Norwegians supported the monarchy, down from 70% in January, according to the Norstat poll published on February 21 by public broadcaster NRK, while 27% supported a republic, up from 19% over the same period.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
20 Mar. 2026
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The attacks by Iran came after strikes on the Islamic republic’s energy production facilities – the first since the war began and a major escalation in the conflict, which had largely spared Iran’s energy infrastructure.—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Theocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/theocracy. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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