autocracy

American  

[aw-tok-ruh-see] / ɔˈtɒk rə si /

noun

• autocracies
  plural

1. government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch.

2. a nation, state, or community ruled by an autocrat.

3. unlimited authority, power, or influence of one person in any group.

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autocracy British  

/ ɔːˈtɒkrəsɪ /

noun

1. government by an individual with unrestricted authority

2. the unrestricted authority of such an individual

3. a country, society, etc, ruled by an autocrat

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autocracy Cultural  

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

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Discover More

Iraq under Saddam Hussein is an autocracy.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• autocracies
  plural

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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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Compare meaning

How does autocracy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• autocracy vs. dictatorship
• autocracy vs. oligarchy
• autocracy vs. monarchy

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

autocracy autocracies

For the Athenians, demokratia, literally “people power,” meant endlessly striving to find ways of harnessing the tendency of leaders toward autocracy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

An expert in the law of autocracy, Scheppele has seen firsthand what happened to constitutional courts, the media, the academy and the democratic norms that protected them in Russia and Hungary.

From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2026

Now the formally restless Susan Choi turns to social realism in her beguiling if baggy “Flashlight,“ mapping a family’s journey among political autocracy and personal pain, from Midwestern cornfields to the Pacific Rim.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025

The Pope spoke to a crowd of thousands in St Peter's Square to warn against marginalisation of the poor and autocracy.

From BBC ● May 18, 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

Amid all this, countries of the Global South—especially Brazil, India and South Africa—position themselves between the West and the Eastern autocracies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

Though in fairness, the app has stood firm against other censorship orders from autocracies like Myanmar and Russia, the latter of which temporarily banned the app in 2018.

From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2024

In the latter, pyramid-like power systems were of two kinds: single-pyramid autocracies or multi-pyramid hybrid regimes with both democratic and nondemocratic political elements.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2024

Founded in 1967, the often-unwieldy collective of democracies, autocracies and monarchies has been held together for decades by bedrock principles of non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs and consensus-based decision-making.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 9, 2023

History shows few examples of the rejuvenescence of decayed autocracies.

From Outspoken Essays by William Ralph Inge

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