totalitarian

[ toh-tal-i-tair-ee-uh n ]

/ toʊˌtæl ɪˈtɛər i ən /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR totalitarian ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

an adherent of totalitarianism.

Words nearby totalitarian

total reflection, total serialism, total transfusion, totalism, totalistic, totalitarian, totalitarianism, totalitarianize, totality, totalizator, totalize

Origin of totalitarian

First recorded in 1925–30; totalit(y) + -arian

OTHER WORDS FROM totalitarian

an·ti·to·tal·i·tar·i·an, adjectivenon·to·tal·i·tar·i·an, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for totalitarian

Indeed, 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|DAILY BEAST
Kundera was reacting against the efforts of 20th-century totalitarian regimes to refashion novelists as propagandists.
The Birth of the Novel|Nick Romeo|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Biographer Andrew Roberts argues that history has maligned Napoleon by lumping him in with totalitarian thugs.
Napoleon Was a Dynamite Dictator|J.P. O’Malley|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

When he says ‘totalitarian liberalism,’ he means that the right of the nation trumps human rights.
Can Ukraine Control Its Far Right Ultranationalists?|Oleg Shynkarenko|March 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Modern China faces more than political problems; a totalitarian revolution has engulfed it.
Government in Republican China|Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger
In the totalitarian East there is political censorship, and the media of mass communications are controlled by the State.
Freedom|Dallas McCord Reynolds
Convince her its governments were evil, totalitarian, when in reality they were democratic?
A World Called Crimson|Darius John Granger
The totalitarian state does not recognize personal liberties for the individual.
Readings on Fascism and National Socialism|Various
The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches|Various

British Dictionary definitions for totalitarian

totalitarian

/ (təʊˌtælɪˈtɛərɪən) /

adjective

of, denoting, relating to, or characteristic of a dictatorial one-party state that regulates every realm of life

noun

a person who advocates or practises totalitarian policies

Derived forms of totalitarian

totalitarianism, noun

Word Origin for totalitarian

from totality + -arian

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