as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
warned that forfeiture of civil liberties for the sake of security would only result in the terror of totalism
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Recent Examples of totalism
Common sense and a mania for systematization, logical thinking and ideological totalism, are constantly at war in the French character, as a belief in instant happiness and a paranoia about imaginary enemies are in the American.
—
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalism
Noun
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Williams’s novel is concerned with time’s tyranny.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Bashar al-Assad, who oversaw the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of his fellow Syrians during a quarter century in power, may have achieved something new in the annals of tyranny.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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From ancient sources philosophers and poets, democrats and demagogues, found justification for everything from anarchy to fascism, and there are reasons for both justifications.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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That is really thuggish fascism.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The royal government was also known as a dictatorship for banning political parties, suppressing revolts and political opposition, controlling the press and having its own secret police force called SAVAK.—
Nollyanne Delacruz,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
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Throughout, Hadi calls attention to the brutality that’s endemic in Iraqi daily life under a dictatorship.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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After Al Qaeda and then Saddam Hussein abruptly emerged as incarnations of a new totalitarianism, Michael Ignatieff and Niall Ferguson, among many others, impatiently urged the United States to assume its imperial obligations and impose democracy, human rights, and free trade through war.—
Victor J. Blue,
Harpers Magazine,
23 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That balance, not absolutism, is how the U.S. will sustain leadership in the AI era.—
Paulo Carvão,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
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At the Claremont Institute in California, the disciples of Leo Strauss, the intellectual guru to several generations of conservatives, combine Platonic philosophy, biblical teachings, and a reverence for the American founding into a politics of ethical and religious absolutism.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But with his bent turned toward authoritarianism, the voters are now rejecting his policies.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Feb. 2026
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These comments are said against a backdrop of escalating violence and authoritarianism in this country that’s directly tied to out-of-control behavior by federal agents conducting immigration raids.—
Thomas Kennedy,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Totalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalism. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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