tyrannize
Americanverb (used without object)
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to exercise absolute power or control, especially cruelly or oppressively (often followed byover ).
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to govern despotically, cruelly, or oppressively.
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to govern or reign as a tyrant.
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tyrannize
1485–95; < French tyranniser < Late Latin tyrannizāre, equivalent to tyrann ( us ) tyrant + -izāre -ize
Explanation
To tyrannize is to rule with cruel and unrestrained amounts of power. If a bully tries to tyrannize the playground, gather your friends and put a stop to it! A leader who tyrannizes is known as a tyrant. These rulers are not restrained by laws or a constitution but have complete authority over their subjects. Given this description, there may be days when it feels like your parents tyrannize you! This word is rooted in the Greek tyrannos, "master, sovereign or absolute ruler unlimited by law."
Vocabulary lists containing tyrannize
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.
See Examples For:
Only to tyrannize behind the scenes and invariably whack others for his mistakes — coaches, general managers, executives by the score finding themselves slurred and slimed and used as human shields.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2022
In the 18th century, colonists speculated that a British statesman - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, was a behind a cabal to tyrannize Americans.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 15, 2019
In the 18th century, colonists speculated that a British statesman — John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, was a behind a cabal to tyrannize Americans.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2019
“Respect on its own is cold and inert, insufficient to overcome the bad tendencies that lead human beings to tyrannize over one another,” she wrote.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 18, 2016
"Then I shall hire or buy a comfortable house, install her as mistress, require you to live with me while you are attending school, and tyrannize over you all."
From Wait and Hope A Plucky Boy's Luck by Alger, Horatio
We’re tyrannized by what’s true but also protected by it.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2022
As the Taliban shift from insurgency to governance, one key test will be whether they act to protect minority groups that their fighters once tyrannized, such as the Shiite Hazaras.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2021
“Lots of companies have been tyrannized by an overly powerful CEO,” said John Coffee, director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2018
"If anything, he will get a lot more sympathy as someone who has been tyrannized," the user said.
From Reuters ● Nov. 29, 2016
Esther was a Frenchwoman, who had lived with ‘Madame’, as she called her mistress, for many years, and who rather tyrannized over the old lady, who could not get along without her.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Functional adults can dismiss Ayn Rand and her petty tyrannizing over acolytes, her psychodramatic love affair with cult deputy Nathaniel Branden, and her continuing ability to inspire teenagers with a Nietzsche complex.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2024
The minister lectured on this subject for an amazingly long time and with an amazing anger, scolding and admonishing and tyrannizing everybody.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 25, 2018
Haines portrays Marcia as an ill-tempered, domineering harridan who tried and often succeeded in tyrannizing not only Wilson's staff but the Prime Minister himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bright clear common sense was for once having its own way, and tyrannizing over the faculties from which it too often suffers violence.
From Alexander Pope English Men of Letters Series by Stephen, Leslie, Sir
In the first place, by then I was incapable of love, for I repeat, with me loving meant tyrannizing and showing my moral superiority.
From White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
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.
