totalitarian

American  

[toh-tal-i-tair-ee-uhn] / toʊˌtæl ɪˈtɛər i ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to a centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life.

2. exercising control over the freedom, will, or thought of others; authoritarian; autocratic.

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noun

1. an adherent of totalitarianism.

totalitarian British  

/ təʊˌtælɪˈtɛərɪən /

adjective

1. of, denoting, relating to, or characteristic of a dictatorial one-party state that regulates every realm of life

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noun

1. a person who advocates or practises totalitarian policies

Other Word Forms

• antitotalitarian adjective
• nontotalitarian adjective
• totalitarianism noun

Etymology

Origin of totalitarian

First recorded in 1925–30; totalit(y) + -arian

Example Sentences

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” her prescient novel of totalitarian dictatorship, began with the group hanging scene, which was shifted to the back of the book.

From Los Angeles Times

Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953, presided over a totalitarian state that executed and imprisoned millions of people that he deemed political enemies.

From Barron's

America is caught in a vise—on one side, “America first”; on the other, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her crowd, whose New York breakthrough would strengthen totalitarian temptations.

From The Wall Street Journal

“A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy,” Orwell wrote in his diary while he was working on the book.

From Salon

This exploitation was of course opportunistic in the extreme, but it also revealed something fundamental about totalitarian psychology.

From Salon

Related Words

• authoritarian
• autocratic
• monolithic
• oppressive
• tyrannical