dictator

American  

[dik-tey-ter, dik-tey-ter] / ˈdɪk teɪ tər, dɪkˈteɪ tər /

noun

1. a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.

2. (in ancient Rome) a person invested with supreme authority during a crisis, the regular magistracy being subordinated to him until the crisis was met.

3. a person who authoritatively prescribes conduct, usage, etc..

   a dictator of fashion.

4. a person who dictates, as to a secretary.

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dictator British  

/ dɪkˈteɪtə, dɪkˈteɪtrɪs, ˈdɪktətrɪks /

noun

1. 1. a ruler who is not effectively restricted by a constitution, laws, recognized opposition, etc

   2. an absolute, esp tyrannical, ruler

2. (in ancient Rome) a person appointed during a crisis to exercise supreme authority

3. a person who makes pronouncements, as on conduct, fashion, etc, which are regarded as authoritative

4. a person who behaves in an authoritarian or tyrannical manner

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Other Word Forms

• dictatress noun

Etymology

Origin of dictator

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin dictātor, from dictā(re) “to say repeatedly, prescribe, order” ( dictate ) + -tor -tor

Example Sentences

The dictator is clearly nervous, alternating between pleas for “peace” and defiant calls for national resistance.

From The Wall Street Journal

After 3½ decades of Francoism, during which, the author reminds us, the dictator “decided that Spaniards were too childish to govern themselves,” there was a palpable sense of a nation orphaned.

From The Wall Street Journal

The days when dictators could live in gilded exile with fortunes in secret Swiss bank accounts are mostly over, primarily because of global mechanisms for adjudicating human-rights abuses and tracking ill-gotten gains.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of Spanish fascists marched through Madrid on Friday, a day after the country marked the 50th anniversary of divisive right-wing former dictator Francisco Franco's death.

From Barron's

The grandson of South Korea's last dictator has apologised to relatives of those killed in a brutal military crackdown in 1980.

From BBC

Related Words

• authoritarian
• autocrat
• commander
• despot
• totalitarian
• tyrant