despotism

[des-puh-tiz-uhm]

noun

1. the rule of a despot; the exercise of absolute authority.

2. absolute power or control; tyranny.

3. an absolute or autocratic government.

4. a country ruled by a despot.

despotism

/ ˈdɛspəˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. the rule of a despot; arbitrary, absolute, or tyrannical government

2. arbitrary or tyrannical authority or behaviour

despotism

1. Unlimited political rule by one person.

The term usually suggests unscrupulous rule, or tyranny.

Word History and Origins

Origin of despotism¹

From the French word despotisme, dating back to 1720–30. See despot, -ism

Example Sentences

“They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the robes of legal sanction,” FDR said when accepting the presidential nomination for the second time.

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When the leftist intelligentsia split into feuding factions, Cowley and the New Republic obstinately persisted in advocating for Stalinism despite ample proof of its brutality and despotism.

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Foreign policy becomes an instrument of naked personal despotism, with favors bestowed on those who burnish the leader’s vanity, and yanked away from those who decline to do so.

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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?

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But “of all the forms democratic despotism could take,” Tocqueville continues, “the worst would be to turn over all the powers of government to the hands of an irresponsible person.”

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Related Words

• authoritarianism www.thesaurus.com
• autocracy 
• tyranny