autocracy
Americannoun
plural
autocracies-
government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch.
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a nation, state, or community ruled by an autocrat.
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unlimited authority, power, or influence of one person in any group.
noun
-
government by an individual with unrestricted authority
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the unrestricted authority of such an individual
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a country, society, etc, ruled by an autocrat
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Iraq under Saddam Hussein is an autocracy.
Etymology
Origin of autocracy
First recorded in 1645–55; from Greek autokráteia “power over oneself, sole power,” from autokrat(ḗs) autocrat + -eia -ia
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How does autocracy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
An autocracy is a government controlled by one person with absolute power. As unlimited power doesn't usually bring out the best in people, autocracies are often brutal regimes. The word autocracy comes from the Greek roots auto ("self") and kratos ("power"). If your boss dictates your every move and leaves you no say at all in how you do your work, then you're not in a democratic workplace, you're in an autocracy.
Vocabulary lists containing autocracy
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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Do it Yourself: Words Beginning with "AUTO"
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Florida EOC Civics
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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.
He admired the spirit of liberty, for instance, yet opposed the French Revolution and supported Napoleon, believing that ensuing populist disorder would then, as it turned out, require autocracy.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026
While news organizations are in many ways top-down institutions—newsroom editors exercise an autocracy quite rare in other fields—in reality they are bottom-up, their product shaped by those who wield the digital pens.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 20, 2025
The Gbagbos protested against Houphouët-Boigny's autocracy, which lasted for 33 years, calling for multi-party democracy.
From BBC • Sep. 12, 2025
The death of most European monarchies after World War I did not signal the demise of lawless autocracy so much as its translation into the new form of nonhereditary dictatorships, Adolf Hitler’s first among them.
From Slate • Feb. 21, 2025
Although his reign may have begun idealistically, Cahokia quickly became an autocracy; in an Ozymandiac extension of his ego, the supreme leader set in motion the construction projects.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
