despot

[ des-puht, -pot ]

noun

1. a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat.
2. any tyrant or oppressor.
3. History/Historical. an honorary title applied to a Byzantine emperor, afterward to members of his family, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors.

despot

/ ˈdɛspɒt; dɛsˈpɒtɪk /

noun

1. an absolute or tyrannical ruler; autocrat or tyrant
2. any person in power who acts tyrannically
3. a title borne by numerous persons of rank in the later Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires

   the despot of Servia

Derived Forms

• despotic, adjective
• desˈpotically, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of despot¹

1555–65; < Greek despótēs master < *dems-pot- presumably, “master of the house,” equivalent to *dems-, akin to dómos house + pot-, base of pósis husband, spouse; hospodar, host ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of despot¹

C16: from Medieval Latin despota, from Greek despotēs lord, master; related to Latin domus house

Example Sentences

He discusses the abolition of slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and the women’s rights movement as evidence of how important it is to continue humanity’s arc of progress before the wrong values get “locked in” by despots.

From MIT Technology Review

While the balance sheet here favors the peacemakers — the Gandhis, Kings and Mandelas — the book includes, as it must, despots and demagogues.

From Washington Post

The usurping king is a despot posing as a benefactor, exerting an authoritarian rule and setting the people close to him against each other to prove their loyalty, while his queen turns a blind eye to his increasingly obvious misdeeds.

From Washington Blade

We have seen it in the rise of other despots around the world.

From Washington Blade

But Stephen Kotkin's new biography reveals a learned despot who acted cunningly to take advantage of the times.

From The Daily Beast

This is the sort of delusion that sets in when a despot confuses himself with the state after too long in power.

From The Daily Beast

As the fiery despot, the fine character actor Simmons has never been given a role this juicy, and knocks it out of the park.

From The Daily Beast

Hundreds have “martyred” themselves fighting Syrian despot Bashar al Assad.

From The Daily Beast

From the start, we see him as he is: a despot and a swindler, a Dallas blue-blood with FBI ties, fleeing a violent past.

From The Daily Beast

Should not every rational prince perceive that the despot is but an insane man who injures himself?

From Project Gutenberg

The idea of a terrible God who was represented as a despot, must necessarily have rendered His subjects wicked.

From Project Gutenberg

This powerful chieftain was an absolute despot ruling over a tribe of fierce warriors, who knew no will but his.

From Project Gutenberg

There he lay, with his face upon the ground, humbly awaiting the stern despot's permission to move.

From Project Gutenberg

At last de B. ran upon "tyrant or despot," which he commuted for "emperor."

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• autocrat
• oppressor
• tyrant