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.
“The Scarlet Letter” has engraved Nathaniel Hawthorne’s name into our national psyche as a critic of tyrannical small-town morality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
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 • Jan. 17, 2026
In a tyrannical system, the accused’s guilt is determined by their being accused in the first place.
From Salon • Apr. 16, 2025
Yet he wasn’t tyrannical about the afterlife of these dramatic curios.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2025
If they went hungry, it was not from feeding tyrannical human beings; if they worked hard, at least they worked for themselves.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
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.
