tyrannical
Americanadjective
-
of or characteristic of a tyrant.
-
unjustly cruel, harsh, or severe; arbitrary or oppressive; despotic.
a tyrannical ruler.
- Synonyms:
- domineering, imperious, dictatorial
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nontyrannic adjective
- nontyrannical adjective
- nontyrannically adverb
- nontyrannicalness noun
- pretyrannical adjective
- quasi-tyrannical adjective
- quasi-tyrannically adverb
- tyrannically adverb
- tyrannicalness noun
- untyrannic adjective
- untyrannical adjective
- untyrannically adverb
Etymology
Origin of tyrannical
1530–40; < Latin tyrannic ( us ) (< Greek tyrannikós, equivalent to týrann ( os ) tyrant + -ikos -ic ) + -al 1
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.
Clara Davis, an influential pediatrician, taught that children possessed innate wisdom, and thus their preferences and cravings were a better guide to what they should eat than the dreary and tyrannical “dosage method.”
Once we fought the Cold War arm in arm against “tyrannical forces” that “censored dissidents, that closed churches.”
Shortly after Museveni took power in 1986, ending years of bloodshed and chaos under tyrannical rulers, the young president mused that leaders overstaying their welcome lay at the heart of Africa's problems.
From Barron's
British tech campaigner Imran Ahmed on Friday decried a US visa ban as "punishment" for his organization's work combating disinformation and holding major online platforms accountable, telling AFP that Washington's actions amounted to "tyrannical behavior."
From Barron's
Ironically, what began as an effort to promote transparency and efficiency for legal work has since become a tyrannical arrangement with both senior people and junior associates motivated to rack up hours to maximize profits.
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.
