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
- antitotalitarian adjective
- nontotalitarian adjective
- totalitarianism noun
Etymology
Origin of totalitarian
First recorded in 1925–30; totalit(y) + -arian
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 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
In the wake of World War II, Prague went from one totalitarian extreme to another.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Nobody needs to tell a journalist in a totalitarian state what kinds of things can be published and what kinds of things can’t?
From Salon • Jan. 20, 2026
What’s amazing about “Brazil,” even after 40 years, is how prophetic it was about the manipulation of public mores and knowledge by a totalitarian regime.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2025
"I was living and working on the frontier between the totalitarian world and the West," he observed, "seeing both sides, and constantly angered by the contrast between the two."
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
