tyranny
arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.
the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.
oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.
undue severity or harshness.
a cruel or harsh act or proceeding; an arbitrary, oppressive, or tyrannical action.
Origin of tyranny
1Other words for tyranny
Words Nearby tyranny
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tyranny in a sentence
It is a woeful abuse of history to claim the filibuster protects the minority from the tyranny of the majority.
These tactics jettison a different kind of tyranny — the tyranny of the click — and leverage the duration of readers’ engagement instead.
With quality content, publishers can overcome the ‘tyranny of choice’ | Duration Media | October 1, 2020 | DigidayMemory releases our mental life from the tyranny of the present moment.
We are here today to declare that we will never submit to tyranny.
Election live updates: Trump returns to Wisconsin; Biden to face live audience at town hall | Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 17, 2020 | Washington PostLewis’s concept was that even that would be preferable to “omnipotent moral busybodies” being in charge, because he said that could lead to what “may be the most oppressive” form of tyranny.
William Barr’s eyebrow-raising ‘robber barons’ metaphor for the Trump era | Aaron Blake | September 17, 2020 | Washington Post
Applying the apartheid label is incorrect—and is also confusing because it obscures the tyranny which is in force.
This platform can be a force multiplier for those struggling against tyranny.
The Bill of Rights, and especially the First Amendment, were intended to protect the powerless from the tyranny of the powerful.
The Supreme Court Turns the First Amendment Into a Weapon for Corporations | Sally Kohn | July 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn one fell swoop, the Supreme Court has constrained government power, expanded corporate rights, and protected religious tyranny.
It also called for the establishment of laws and institutions that might protect minorities against the tyranny of the majority.
The object of these scarli is to manifest the popular exultation at the annihilation of feudal tyranny.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsMr. Hutchinson was doubtless temperamentally less inclined to fear tyranny than anarchy.
The Eve of the Revolution | Carl BeckerYet the Clarion opposes sweating and tyranny and hypocrisy, and does its best to defeat and to destroy them.
God and my Neighbour | Robert BlatchfordShe thinks of politics, and of the tyranny of kings and nobles, and of the unjust inequalities of man.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. AbbottAmid the perpetration of much bloodshed and tyranny, Christianity has certainly achieved some good.
God and my Neighbour | Robert Blatchford
British Dictionary definitions for tyranny
/ (ˈtɪrənɪ) /
government by a tyrant or tyrants; despotism
similarly oppressive and unjust government by more than one person
arbitrary, unreasonable, or despotic behaviour or use of authority: the teacher's tyranny
any harsh discipline or oppression: the tyranny of the clock
a political unit ruled by a tyrant
(esp in ancient Greece) government by a usurper
a tyrannical act
Origin of tyranny
1Derived forms of tyranny
- tyrannous, adjective
- tyrannously, adverb
- tyrannousness, noun
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
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