dictatorship
a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.
absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.
the office or position held by a dictator.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of dictatorship
1Words Nearby dictatorship
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use dictatorship in a sentence
The goal is to make it easier to publicly shame governments that sell surveillance tools to dictatorships.
Europe is adopting stricter rules on surveillance tech | Patrick Howell ONeill | November 9, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewComing from a dictatorship without presidential elections to a country with one of the strongest democracies on earth is a 360-degree turn, one to which I am still assimilating and beginning to understand.
My vote on behalf of those who are excluded | Yariel Valdés González | October 27, 2020 | Washington BladeHowever, your work has a high dose of activism against the dictatorship and in defense of LGBTQ rights.
A non-binary Cuban artist is born again in Spain | Yariel Valdés González | October 16, 2020 | Washington BladeThis August, the situation changed dramatically, and the front pages of the world’s leading publications were full of stories about the courage of the Belarusian people who dared to challenge the 26-year-old dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko.
There are certain elements of dictatorship in it, in the sense that the president has primary authority to determine policy in a wide variety of areas.
Does the President Matter as Much as You Think? (Ep. 404) | Stephen J. Dubner | February 6, 2020 | Freakonomics
A second document was titled: “Gambia Reborn: A Charter for Transition from dictatorship to Democracy and Development.”
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country | Jacob Siegel | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHe is a true advocate for human rights who has paid a horrible price for standing up against the Assad dictatorship.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015 | Movements.Org | December 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDemographic changes are making that community less dogmatic, even through the Castro regime remains an oppressive dictatorship.
The Liberation of the Lame Duck: Obama Goes Full Bulworth | John Avlon | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt simultaneously reveals the absurdity of dictatorship and gives comfort to those languishing under an impossible reality.
The Sony Hack and America’s Craven Capitulation To Terror | David Keyes | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey backed him when the Sandinistas tried to establish their own Cuban-inspired dictatorship.
China’s Nicaragua Canal Could Spark a New Central America Revolution | Nina Lakhani | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSiyes desired a man who would overthrow the Directory and establish a dictatorship: Barras was coquetting with the Bourbons.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonIn this way he acquired a civil jurisdiction in connection with his military dictatorship.
If all the accounts of that dark dictatorship were true, they would have vanished from Terra, and not in their ships either.
Star Born | Andre NortonOn the 9th of February I proposed a military dictatorship, that alone was able to place on foot a hundred thousand armed men.
Rule of the Monk | Giuseppe GaribaldiFrom him, Barrent learned that Earth was believed to be a dictatorship.
The Status Civilization | Robert Sheckley
British Dictionary definitions for dictatorship
/ (dɪkˈteɪtəˌʃɪp) /
the rank, office, or period of rule of a dictator
government by a dictator or dictators
a country ruled by a dictator or dictators
absolute or supreme power or authority
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for dictatorship
Government by a single person or by a junta or other group that is not responsible to the people or their elected representatives.
Notes for dictatorship
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse