despot

[ des-puht, -pot ]

/ ˈdɛs pət, -pɒt /

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noun

a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat.

any tyrant or oppressor.

History/Historical. an honorary title applied to a Byzantine emperor, afterward to members of his family, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors.

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Origin of despot

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; cf. hospodar, host¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use despot in a sentence

The Castros are the latest in a long line of despots he believed he could negotiate with.
Obama’s One Hand Clap With Castro|Doug McIntyre|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For some observers, it may have appeared that the goals were specific and limited: the overthrow of individual despots.
Defeating the Arab Spring Syndrome of Self-Defeat|Talal Alyan|October 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
These affinities are arguably at the heart of the 40-year dalliance of Iranian and Syrian despots.
Iranian Clerics About to Fall?|Abbas Milani|September 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Brian Ries reports on the latest weapon wielded by desperate despots.
Syria’s Cyberthugs|Brian Ries|September 8, 2011|DAILY BEAST

And President Bashar al-Assad, no doubt, sees that his coterie of regional despots is thinning out.
Can the Rebels Hang On?|Babak Dehghanpisheh|August 27, 2011|DAILY BEAST
He could even hear the professor's voice as he ironically pronounced upon sordid little despots of Bassett's stamp.
A Hoosier Chronicle|Meredith Nicholson
And a nation of such individuals is an association of despots for despotic purposes, and nothing else nor better.
Aurelian|William Ware
In a word, the soldier reigned supreme; and that most brutal of despots often made his own officer feel his power.
The Thirty Years War, Complete|Friedrich Schiller
When the Mississippi Company took the colony in charge, it was but a change of despots.
A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I|Francis Parkman
Colquhoun, though a patriotic Briton, has to admit that the French despots had at last created an efficient police.
The English Utilitarians, Volume I.|Leslie Stephen

British Dictionary definitions for despot

despot

/ (ˈdɛspɒt) /

noun

an absolute or tyrannical ruler; autocrat or tyrant

any person in power who acts tyrannically

a title borne by numerous persons of rank in the later Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empiresthe despot of Servia

Derived forms of despot

despotic (dɛsˈpɒtɪk) or despotical, adjectivedespotically, adverb

Word Origin for despot

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

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

despot

Origin of despot

Words related to despot

How to use despot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for despot

Derived forms of despot

Word Origin for despot