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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tyrannous These tyrannous tabbies don’t understand that canning is not exclusively for wet food. Julie Klausner, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024 Indeed, Daniel Roher’s pulse-pumping documentary about the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has all the ingredients: a mysterious case of near-fatal poisoning, a web of for-hire hoodlums, Vladimir Putin as the tyrannous leader behind it all. Tomris Laffly, Harper's BAZAAR, 1 Feb. 2022 The same study posited that Fela was not the only popular musician who confronted the military and tyrannous leaders of Nigeria between independence in 1960 and Fela’s passing in 1997. Garhe Osiebe, Quartz Africa, 21 Feb. 2021 The patriarchs of their respective homes, Polonius (Peter Friedman) and Claudius (Ritchie Coster) enthrone themselves on the toilet, oblivious of the tumult their tyrannous treachery has wreaked. Syringes creepily replace swords. Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 19 Aug. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tyrannous
Adjective
  • In many areas along and east of the Mississippi River, heat index values could soar to between 110 and 115 degrees — the kind of oppressive heat that can quickly turn dangerous without proper precautions.
    Brandi D. Addison, Austin American Statesman, 23 July 2025
  • Generally, when dew point values climb into the 70s, the heat becomes a nuisance and feels oppressive.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • North Korea is under sanctions from the United States — as well as the United Nations and several other countries — largely in response to the isolated authoritarian state's weapons programs.
    Alana Wise, NPR, 25 July 2025
  • While Western democracies debate environmental reviews and grid reliability, authoritarian systems can rapidly direct energy flows to computing infrastructure.
    Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • The Florida court contrived a weird and arbitrary compromise, granting new sentencing hearings only to death row prisoners whose sentences were considered final after 2002, when the U.S. court issued a decision that was a precursor to Hurst’s.
    Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 July 2025
  • Ultimately, Bae acknowledges, these classifications are somewhat arbitrary.
    Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 26 July 2025
Adjective
  • Avoid being domineering, but also avoid being stepped on by someone else.
    Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 25 July 2025
  • My Mom Died is a heartbreaking and hilarious recounting of McCurdy’s struggles as a former child actor while dealing with her overbearing, domineering mother.
    Charley Ross, Glamour, 2 July 2025
Adjective
  • In addition to Sandler, the 2025 film also sees the return of several familiar faces, including Julie Bowen as Happy’s love interest, Virginia Venit; Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, Happy’s arrogant nemesis; and Ben Stiller as Hal L., the orderly from Happy’s grandmother’s nursing home.
    Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
  • Christopher McDonald plays Happy’s comically villainous, arrogant rival Shooter McGavin, maestro of the finger guns.
    Skyler Trepel, EW.com, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • Since his memorable performance on the Netflix sci-fi show, Quinn has starred alongside Lupita Nyong’o in A Quiet Place: Day One and played a tyrannical emperor in Gladiator II.
    Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
  • Such control isn’t intrinsically tyrannical or oppressive.
    Michael W. Clune, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
Adjective
  • Access to justice too (something often underrated), where you can’t be killed or robbed with impunity, and where you won’t be arbitrarily deprived of your liberty or your freedom of speech by a despotic government.
    Simon Boas July 23, Literary Hub, 23 July 2025
  • Napoleon, the pig who takes despotic control of the farm following the revolution — voiced with haughty gusto by Seth Rogen — bears an uncanny resemblance to the current occupant of the White House.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 11 June 2025
Adjective
  • Power Without Reciprocity and Organizational Collapse Rome transitioned from a participatory republic to an autocratic empire.
    Scott Hutcheson, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
  • As the citizens of the state struggle to seize power back from an autocratic government, the story centers on Jamil, a war zone courier/smuggler, and Zora, a young leader in the Mulholland Resistance, who attempt to escape Occupied Los Angeles, a city under martial law.
    Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 23 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tyrannous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tyrannous. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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