dictatorship

[dik-tey-ter-ship, dik-tey-]

noun

1. a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.

2. absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.

3. the office or position held by a dictator.

dictatorship

/ dɪkˈteɪtəˌʃɪp /

noun

1. the rank, office, or period of rule of a dictator

2. government by a dictator or dictators

3. a country ruled by a dictator or dictators

4. absolute or supreme power or authority

dictatorship

1. Government by a single person or by a junta or other group that is not responsible to the people or their elected representatives.

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were dictators.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dictatorship¹

First recorded in 1580–90; dictator + -ship

Example Sentences

The duo met while studying journalism at the Universidad de Chile in the late 1980s, as the country transitioned from a dictatorship to a democracy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The 58-year-old was named as the prestigious prize's recipient in October, being praised for her efforts towards a "peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy".

Read more on BBC

As the country’s ’70s-era military dictatorship wreaks havoc, decent people privately put up a complex resistance over years.

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Thousands of people demonstrated in Greece on Monday to commemorate a student uprising against a US-backed dictatorship that was brutally crushed in 1973.

Read more on Barron's

These were the final years of Franco's dictatorship before his death in 1975.

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Related Words

• authoritarianism www.thesaurus.com
• autocracy 
• totalitarianism 
• tyranny