autocrat

[aw-tuh-krat]

See more synonyms for autocrat on Thesaurus.com

noun

an absolute ruler, especially a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions.
a person invested with or claiming to exercise absolute authority.
a person who behaves in an authoritarian manner; a domineering person.

Origin of autocrat

1795–1805; < Greek autokratḗs self-ruling, ruling alone, equivalent to auto- auto-¹ + krat- (stem of krátos power) + -ēs adj. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for autocrat

fascist, tyrant, despot, totalitarian, overlord, authoritarian, caesar, Hitler

Examples from the Web for autocrat

Contemporary Examples of autocrat

These reforms were mostly designed to reassure Sunnis and Kurds that Maliki would not become an autocrat.
How Iran and America Can Beat ISIS Together
Ben Van Heuvelen
June 21, 2014
Nothing humbles an autocrat quite like the need to grub for votes.
Memo: The Aaron Sorkin Model of Political Discourse Doesn't Actually Work
Megan McArdle
April 23, 2013

Historical Examples of autocrat

The implicit obedience this autocrat commanded set them in a whirl.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
It appeased and disarmed this anarchist who was also an autocrat.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
She has always had the germ of the ruler and autocrat in her soul.
Fair to Look Upon
Mary Belle Freeley
The Irish Minister for Agriculture by no means rules as an autocrat.
Home Rule
Harold Spender
Alexander, as autocrat of all the Russias, did not suffer any authority but his own.
The Story of Russia
R. Van Bergen, M.A.

British Dictionary definitions for autocrat

autocrat

noun

a ruler who possesses absolute and unrestricted authority
a domineering or dictatorial person

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

Word Origin and History for autocrat

1803, from French autocrate, from Greek autokrates "ruling by oneself, absolute, autocratic," from autos- "self" (see auto-) + kratia "rule," from kratos "strength, power" (see -cracy). First used by Robert Southey, with reference to Napoleon. An earlier form was autocrator (1789), used in reference to the Russian Czars. Earliest form in English is the fem. autocratress (1762).