tyrant
noun
a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly.
tyrants
-
pluralof tyrant.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
Pope Leo has criticised leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants" in unusually forceful comments during a visit to Cameroon.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
Having suffered through the rule of tyrants in the late sixth century, they imposed reforms designed to prevent another such period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Shortly after Museveni took power in 1986, ending years of bloodshed and chaos under murderous tyrants, the young president mused that leaders overstaying their welcome lay at the heart of Africa's problems.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
“Dictators, tyrants and kings build monumental architecture to buttress their own egos, which is called authoritarian monumentalism,” Gilmore writes.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2025
For weeks I had studied maps, large-scale and small, but maps are not reality at all—they can be tyrants.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
