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 irony, which Mr. Crow misses, is that Marat, with his lists of enemies and scapegoats and his lust for punishment, was the ancestor of the modern totalitarians.

From The Wall Street Journal

Breaking ranks in a constitutional democracy may not incur the same risks as in a totalitarian regime, but revising the dictionary of received ideas isn’t for cowards in any society.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 1948 George Orwell identified “Newspeak” as an essential component of the totalitarian toolkit: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“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

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

From Salon

Related Words

• authoritarian
• autocratic
• monolithic
• oppressive
• tyrannical