tyranny
Americannoun
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arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.
- Synonyms:
- dictatorship, absolutism, despotism
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the government or rule of a tyrant or absolute ruler.
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a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.
-
oppressive or unjustly severe government on the part of any ruler.
-
undue severity or harshness.
-
a cruel or harsh act or proceeding; an arbitrary, oppressive, or tyrannical action.
noun
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government by a tyrant or tyrants; despotism
-
similarly oppressive and unjust government by more than one person
-
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arbitrary, unreasonable, or despotic behaviour or use of authority
the teacher's tyranny
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any harsh discipline or oppression
the tyranny of the clock
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a political unit ruled by a tyrant
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(esp in ancient Greece) government by a usurper
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a tyrannical act
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tyranny
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English tyrannie, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, equivalent to Latin tyrann(us) “oppressive ruler” + -ia noun suffix; see tyrant, -y 3
Explanation
Tyranny is a noun that describes a repressive and arbitrarily cruel regime. Don't accuse your mother of tyranny just because she won't let you play video games all weekend long. One of the root words of tyranny is the Latin tyrannia which means the "rule of a tyrant" and a tyrant is a "cruel master." Today, it can mean the repressive regime of a dictator or it can also mean being controlled by something metaphorically harsh like time or work. Maybe the oldest example of a tyranny is that of Tyrannosaurus Rex, or "king of the giant lizards," who many of us grew up thinking was the largest, most predatory and frightening of the dinosaurs who supposedly ruled over the rest of the dinosaur world with its huge, sharp teeth and claws.
Vocabulary lists containing tyranny
The Declaration of Independence
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Fahrenheit 451
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American History I
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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.
But Shakespeare, who was as wary of rebellion as he was of tyranny, saw the flaws in every faction of society.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
On a stage at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, the chief executive of Australian airline Qantas declares: "The tyranny of distance has finally been conquered".
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
These guys ousted the shah in 1979 expressing their outrage about his tyranny.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that he had “sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of mind.”
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
Surely they could not possibly think this was just Bandit’s scheme to escape the tyranny of piano lessons for the joys of Jackie Robinson!
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
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.
