authoritarian
[uh-thawr-i-tair-ee-uh n, uh-thor-]
- favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom: authoritarian principles; authoritarian attitudes.
- of or relating to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state, centered either in one person or a small group that is not constitutionally accountable to the people.
- exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of another or of others: an authoritarian parent.
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- a person who favors or acts according to authoritarian principles.
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Origin of authoritarian
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
authoritarian
- favouring, denoting, or characterized by strict obedience to authority
- favouring, denoting, or relating to government by a small elite with wide powers
- despotic; dictatorial; domineering
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- a person who favours or practises authoritarian policies
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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
Word Origin and History for non-authoritarian
authoritarian
adj.
1862, "favoring imposed order over freedom," from authority + -an. Cf. authoritative, which originally had this meaning to itself. Noun in the sense of one advocating or practicing such governance is from 1859.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper