as in oppressive
controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed
A totalitarian state that did not even allow outsiders to visit.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in authoritarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2025
Serena is drawn back to Gilead's New Bethlehem with the promise of significant progression and reformation for the totalitarian state.
—EW.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
It was first created in 1942 specifically to serve as a foil to Axis disinformation and over the years became a beacon of hope to people living under all manner of totalitarian and despotic governments.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2025
Serena is drawn back to Gilead's New Bethlehem with the promise of significant progression and reformation for the totalitarian state.
—EW.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Noun
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
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The Collector is also hoping these will satiate the growing wants of his oppressive overlord, The Forger (Roddy Ricch), who has mysterious motives of his own.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
17 Apr. 2025
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Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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His parents were Italian immigrants who fled Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, and his grandmother Rosa Margherita Vassallo di Bergoglio was active in Catholic Action, formed by Italian bishops who wanted to maintain their independence from Mussolini’s authoritarian rule.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
21 Apr. 2025
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Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been called an authoritarian, and previous reports have noted restrictions to civil liberties.—
Graham Smith,
NPR,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The cover of the first issue of The New Yorker, dated Feb. 21, 1925, carried no portraits of potentates or tycoons, no headlines, no come-ons.—
Christopher B. Daly,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2025
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Or were all those billionaire potentates in the Capitol Rotunda — seated in front of Trump’s Cabinet picks — asserting their social, economic and cultural hegemony?—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Again, fear is the autocrat’s goal, as is simply doing many things every day.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
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When autocrats violate sovereignty, America’s response is to aid the autocrats by deporting their victims rather than sanctioning the aggressors overseas.—
Andy J. Semotiuk,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Even Matyas Rakosi, Hungary's most brutal communist dictator, refused to move his office here, but Orban wants to play king, so the national gallery will eventually need to be moved out of the castle to make way for him.—
Rob Schmitz,
NPR,
20 Apr. 2025
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The drawdown also comes after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime in December.—
Ellen Mitchell,
The Hill,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Throughout Russian history, Ivan the Terrible – who among his other crimes murdered his eldest son and had the head of Russian Orthodox Church strangled for dissent – was remembered as a repulsive tyrant.—
Dina Khapaeva,
The Conversation,
22 Apr. 2025
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The sixth emperor of the famed Mughal dynasty, he is considered by many detractors to be a tyrant who brutalized women, razed Hindu temples, forced religious conversions and waged wars against Hindu and Sikh rulers.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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