tyrannous
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tyrannous
Explanation
Someone who exerts their authority in a cruel or oppressive way is tyrannous. An unjust, autocratic leader of a country is a tyrannous ruler. You might accuse your parents of being tyrannous if they don't let you go out on a school night, but unless they truly abuse their control over you, they're not literally tyrannous. A tyrant is an absolute ruler, often an illegitimate (rather than democratically elected) one, and is usually cruel. Both tyrant and tyrannous come from the Greek root tyrannos, "absolute ruler unlimited by law."
Vocabulary lists containing tyrannous
"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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Torpedoed
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
