totalitarian
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.
an adherent of totalitarianism.
Origin of totalitarian
1Other words from totalitarian
- an·ti·to·tal·i·tar·i·an, adjective
- non·to·tal·i·tar·i·an, adjective
Words Nearby totalitarian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use totalitarian in a sentence
Starting in 2018, the regime transitioned from a relatively free authoritarian system to a closed dictatorship, not quite totalitarian but close.
The Miscalculations and Missed Opportunities that Led Putin to War in Ukraine | Philip Short | August 3, 2022 | TimeSo in terms of capitalism, if the alternative is communism then yes, I think that there are actually excellent arguments why market society is better than a top-down authoritarian, totalitarian dictatorship.
It’s akin to security agents from a totalitarian regime showing up at the house of an opposition leader looking for evidence of espionage.
In one quote, the core of the effort to undermine the 2020 election is revealed | Philip Bump | July 23, 2021 | Washington PostIndeed, history has shown us just how much of a threat schlocky Hollywood entertainment is to totalitarian governments.
North Korea’s Secret Movie Bootleggers: How Western Films Make It Into the Hermit Kingdom | Lizzie Crocker | December 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTKundera was reacting against the efforts of 20th-century totalitarian regimes to refashion novelists as propagandists.
So you are saying that Napoleon was not a totalitarian-dictator as many historians are eager to suggest?
Biographer Andrew Roberts argues that history has maligned Napoleon by lumping him in with totalitarian thugs.
One has to admit that a totalitarian empire is impossible without the Iron Curtain or a system of complete information isolation.
Putin’s Dream of Empire Doesn’t Stop at Crimea, Or Even Ukraine | Oleg Shynkarenko | March 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTConvince her its governments were evil, totalitarian, when in reality they were democratic?
A World Called Crimson | Darius John GrangerThis totalitarian trading system insures that foreign trade serves the purposes of the state.
East-West Trade Trends | Harold E. StassenThey would then be free to impose their will and spread their totalitarian ideology.
State of the Union Addresses of George W. Bush | George W. BushModern China faces more than political problems; a totalitarian revolution has engulfed it.
Government in Republican China | Paul Myron Anthony LinebargerThe totalitarian state does not recognize personal liberties for the individual.
British Dictionary definitions for totalitarian
/ (təʊˌtælɪˈtɛərɪən) /
of, denoting, relating to, or characteristic of a dictatorial one-party state that regulates every realm of life
a person who advocates or practises totalitarian policies
Origin of totalitarian
1Derived forms of totalitarian
- totalitarianism, noun
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
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