adjective
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of or relating to an absolute and unrestricted ruler
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domineering or dictatorial
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of autocratic
Explanation
Autocratic describes a way of ruling, but not in a nice way. An autocratic leader is one who rules with an iron fist; in other words — someone with the behavior of a dictator. Autocratic rulers don't tend to be popular. They use fear and control to gain total power over their people. Often, their country is left destitute as a result of their actions. The word autocratic is often used to describe the head of a country, but really, anyone who is a despotic leader can qualify — including the boss who threatens to fire you if you refuse to polish his shoes and work every holiday.
Vocabulary lists containing autocratic
To Thine Own Self Be True: Auto
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Do it Yourself: Words Beginning with "AUTO"
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Murder on the Orient Express
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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.
You have asserted your core First Amendment rights to speak, assemble, associate—to bear witness as a democratic check on an autocratic regime.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Not only is the rise of autocratic leaders “objectively bad for the world,” he adds, but the feeling that the show “didn’t go far enough” is also “unsettling,” to put it lightly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The daughter of autocratic former leader Alberto Fujimori, she enjoys high levels of name recognition among voters.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
The party was already highly secretive before Xi took power in 2012, but his tilt toward autocratic rule has made Chinese politics even more opaque and sparked a resurgence in Pekingology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
The Housing Authority was headed by a former cotton mill executive named Carvie Oldham, who ran public housing with the same autocratic and ruthless style that had marked his tenure in the mill.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
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.
