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.
“In the eyes of a totalitarian ruler,” Pei said, “everyone is dispensable.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
A totalitarian leader demands unconditional fealty from everyone around him, but considers himself to owe nothing in return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
In a totalitarian sci-fi world, a hammer thrown by a young athlete smashes a "Big Brother" figure declaiming to brainwashed citizens from a vast screen.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
The constitutional court said back in 2001 that "as time passes, the relative importance of standpoints and positions of people in a totalitarian state certainly has not vanished, but it has definitely decreased".
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
But what they didn’t say was that prison was also a microcosm of a totalitarian society, a nearly pure example of the police state.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
