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autocracy

[ aw-tok-ruh-see ]
/ ɔˈtɒk rə si /
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noun, plural au·toc·ra·cies.
government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch.
a nation, state, or community ruled by an autocrat.
unlimited authority, power, or influence of one person in any group.

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Origin of autocracy

1645–55; <Greek autokráteia power over oneself, sole power, equivalent to autokrat(ḗs) autocrat + -eia-ia; see -cracy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use autocracy in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for autocracy

autocracy
/ (ɔːˈtɒkrəsɪ) /

noun plural -cies
government by an individual with unrestricted authority
the unrestricted authority of such an individual
a country, society, etc, ruled by an autocrat
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

Cultural definitions for autocracy

autocracy
[ (aw-tok-ruh-see) ]

A system of government in which supreme political power is held by one person. (Compare constitutional monarchy, democracy, and oligarchy.)

notes for autocracy

Iraq under Saddam Hussein is an autocracy.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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