dictator
Americannoun
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dictators
plural
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a person exercising absolute power, especially a ruler who has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without hereditary succession.
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(in ancient Rome) a person invested with supreme authority during a crisis, the regular magistracy being subordinated to him until the crisis was met.
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a person who authoritatively prescribes conduct, usage, etc..
a dictator of fashion.
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a person who dictates, as to a secretary.
noun
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a ruler who is not effectively restricted by a constitution, laws, recognized opposition, etc
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an absolute, esp tyrannical, ruler
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(in ancient Rome) a person appointed during a crisis to exercise supreme authority
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a person who makes pronouncements, as on conduct, fashion, etc, which are regarded as authoritative
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a person who behaves in an authoritarian or tyrannical manner
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dictator
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin dictātor, from dictā(re) “to say repeatedly, prescribe, order” ( see dictate) + -tor -tor
Explanation
A dictator is someone who has absolute power — or who at least behaves as if they do by bossing others around. In government, a dictator is a ruler who has total control over a country, with no checks or balances to prevent abuse of power. Dictator can also describe someone who acts like that on a smaller scale. When your sister is getting married and your mom makes her order roses instead lilies for the table arrangements and yells at you for addressing the invitations too slowly and insists that all of her coworkers be invited, she’s acting like a dictator.
Vocabulary lists containing dictator
You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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The Wednesday Wars
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Eastern Europe - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Maricarmen inherited her parents’ rent-controlled lease, set decades ago under the military dictator Francisco Franco.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
That nickname comes from Mobutu Sese Seko, the dictator who ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo - formerly Zaire - for three decades.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Before, the two forces had been allies, working together to crush rebellions in Darfur, but also pro-democracy movements that sprung up after the ouster of Sudanese dictator Omar Al-Bashir in 2019.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Along with the Clark Air Base inland, Subic Bay sustained anticommunist wars in Korea and Vietnam and, thanks to the support of longtime dictator Ferdinand Marcos, projected U.S. power through decades of containment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The machinations of European powers and the funny mustached German dictator were as remote to our island in the fall of 1941 as Silas Marner, which sapped our energies through eighth-grade English.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Despite being elected to represent fewer than 1,000 people, his forenames being those of two notorious fascist dictators has drawn outsized international attention to the small corner of the country.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
"The issue is not whether the dictators have heard us. The issue is whether they believe our words will ever be followed by our actions," added the US official.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Only those nations ruled by kings or dictators display the image of their sitting ruler on the coins of the realm.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
We don’t like despots and dictators and monarchs or anything smacking of royalty.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026
He sur-vived going against the wishes of despots and dictators in some of the most dangerous and war-torn jungles in the world.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
