monarchy
a state or nation in which the supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in a monarch.: Compare absolute monarchy, limited monarchy.
supreme power or sovereignty held by a single person.
Origin of monarchy
1synonym study For monarchy
Other words from monarchy
- an·ti·mon·ar·chy, adjective
- pro·mon·ar·chy, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use monarchy in a sentence
The modern air forces built by autocratic Arab monarchies are designed primarily for self-defense, not attack.
Iconoclastic individuals are our heroes, and big, bad institutions—monarchies, patriarchies, churches—are the villains.
How ‘Cosmos’ Bungles the History of Religion and Science | David Sessions | March 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Saudis have also moved to back up other endangered monarchies like Jordan.
They survived a wave of revolutions against Arab monarchies in the 1950s and 1960s.
The small oil-rich monarchies of the Gulf and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan would be endangered.
How was it that so many of the kingdoms of modern Europe had been transformed from limited into absolute monarchies?
The History of England from the Accession of James II. | Thomas Babington MacaulayAll these ancient monarchies had run out and were old when the Greeks began their settlements and conquests.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordEverything which has come down from the ancient monarchies is calm, impassive, imperturbable.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordMonarchies may capitulate, republics die and bear their testimony even to martyrdom.
The Life of Mazzini | Bolton KingThe house of Braganza, like the other so-called legitimate monarchies of Europe, had fallen into a moral and physical decline.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
British Dictionary definitions for monarchy
/ (ˈmɒnəkɪ) /
a form of government in which supreme authority is vested in a single and usually hereditary figure, such as a king, and whose powers can vary from those of an absolute despot to those of a figurehead
a country reigned over by a king, prince, or other monarch
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
Cultural definitions for monarchy
[ (mon-uhr-kee, mon-ahr-kee) ]
A system of government in which one person reigns, usually a king or queen. The authority, or crown, in a monarchy is generally inherited. The ruler, or monarch, is often only the head of state, not the head of government. Many monarchies, such as Britain and Denmark, are actually governed by parliaments. (See absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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