authoritarian
Americanadjective
-
favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom.
authoritarian principles; authoritarian attitudes.
-
of or relating to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state, centered either in one person or a small group that is not constitutionally accountable to the people.
-
exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of another or of others.
an authoritarian parent.
noun
adjective
-
favouring, denoting, or characterized by strict obedience to authority
-
favouring, denoting, or relating to government by a small elite with wide powers
-
despotic; dictatorial; domineering
noun
Other Word Forms
- antiauthoritarian adjective
- antiauthoritarianism noun
- authoritarianism noun
- nonauthoritarian adjective
Etymology
Origin of authoritarian
First recorded in 1875–80; authorit(y) + -arian
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The sheer volume and velocity of information pose an existential threat to any would-be authoritarian project.
From Salon
Even the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization that monitors and honors reporters imprisoned by authoritarian government regimes overseas, felt compelled to weigh in on Lemon’s arrest.
From Los Angeles Times
"Capgemini works with government organisations playing a part in migration policies that are currently quite authoritarian," he said.
From Barron's
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, he said the United States has "a legal responsibility to protect those who seek refuge in our country from persecution by authoritarian governments."
From Barron's
Thanks to Judge Charles Ouslander for his asylum ruling, which shows the U.S. can still be a beacon for liberty and a refuge for dissidents from the world’s cruel authoritarians.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
