despot

When a reporter pressed Mamdani over a previous comment calling Trump a despot, the president interjected, “I’ve been called much worse than a despot, so it’s not that insulting.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has replaced three top officials in charge of his personal security, Seoul said Tuesday, a sign the despot may increasingly fear assassination plots.

From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026

“We love, we can, we’ll win” became the slogan of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s 2020 challenge to the Belarusian despot Alexander Lukashenko.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2024

By portraying Moses as an antidemocratic despot, Caro understates the extent to which his actions reflected the mainstream political thinking of the time.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2024

If my sister Rachel and Mr. William Shakespeare put their heads together to invent an extravagant despot, they couldn’t outdo Mobutu.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Whitewashing or altering them because of the sins of their subjects is out of the playbook of despots who erase history or twist it to suit modern-day needs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

We don’t like despots and dictators and monarchs or anything smacking of royalty.

From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026

Mr. Loconte outlines how their belief in the God-given dignity of man set them at odds with foreign despots and those in England with similar political designs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

He doesn't seem to consider dictators and despots as his special friends which is a nice change.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2023

Willoughby was rare—his preference to remain behind the scenes implied the absence of vast personal conceit, a trait essential for two-penny despots.

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee