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despotism

[des-puh-tiz-uhm] / ˈdɛs pəˌtɪz əm /
NOUN
absolute power
Synonyms
Antonyms
STRONGEST


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We face the tyranny of ubiquitous pleasure, of easy comfort—the soft despotism of “Brave New World,” not the brutal authoritarianism of “1984.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Can that Huntington Beach teach the rest of us a thing — or thirty — not just about how to stand up to despotism, but how to beat it back?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

Mr Jones claimed Mr Williams had run "a regime of despotism" throughout his daughter's tenure at the channel and sacked her "without consultation".

From BBC • Dec. 19, 2023

I had spent time in Iraq and knew so many Iraqis like Salam who had suffered under his despotism — and who wanted him gone.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 24, 2023

Prison administration couldn’t help being a despotism, but it could be an enlightened one.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover




Vocabulary lists containing despotism


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