despotically
Americanadverb
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.
His new boss is the imposing Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, despotically played by Josh Brolin.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
A large, irascible man in his late 50s with a firm Orthodox faith, Khachaturyan had run his household despotically since he allegedly forced his wife to leave in 2015.
From The Guardian • Mar. 10, 2020
Here, bowed and walking with a cane, was Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia, and Joaquin Chissano of Mozambique, and Robert G. Mugabe, still in power, despotically so, in Zimbabwe.
From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2013
All of a sudden she felt despotically maternal.
From The Guardian • Mar. 18, 2013
In these democratic days, he can only proceed by ruling despotically with the popular consent; in other words, there will follow a regime of paternalism and fraternalism, the practical outcome of which would be Socialism.
From Thomas Carlyle Famous Scots Series by Macpherson, Hector Carsewell
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.
