totalitarian
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to a centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life.
-
exercising control over the freedom, will, or thought of others; authoritarian; autocratic.
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of totalitarian
First recorded in 1925–30; totalit(y) + -arian
Explanation
You can decipher the meaning of totalitarian by the first part: "total." It refers to a government with total power, one that exercises complete, even oppressive control over the people and their activities. (You can also figure it’s not nice.) The word totalitarian first came about in 1926 as totalitario, an adjective to describe the Italian fascism of that time. The English form was adapted from the Italian to describe an absolutely powerful regime. Socialist leader Norman Thomas once said: "To us Americans much has been given; of us much is required. With all our faults and mistakes, it is our strength in support of the freedom our forefathers loved which has saved mankind from subjection to totalitarian power."
Vocabulary lists containing totalitarian
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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Power Suffix: -arian
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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.
That he shares his name with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini - "two of the most well-known figures of 20th-Century European totalitarian regimes" - has made his candidacy a "striking event", local outlet Peru21 reported.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
“My grandparents were murdered in concentration camps. And to see how the world, again, is swinging that direction, where there are too many people in favor of a totalitarian government, is crazy,” Eliot said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Extremely isolated, totalitarian North Korea is a militarised and heavily indoctrinated state.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
In 1932 a Tory historian called Disraeli “the recreator of our party,” framing Conservatives as the defenders of a democratic politics as totalitarian movements loomed abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
He resettled in the United States in 1940, thereby avoiding any more serious consequences of challenging the totalitarian line.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
