police state

noun

: a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures

Examples of police state in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, came to power in 1971 and built a brutal police state. Justin Salhani, The Dial, 17 Dec. 2024 Roosevelt insisted America’s entry was indispensable to preventing Adolf Hitler from exporting his police state and extermination camps to the Western Hemisphere. Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 29 Nov. 2024 Imagine living in a neighborhood that is a police state—constantly being harassed while walking to school, seeing houses raided, arrested just because, and maybe assaulted and beat—due to the war on drugs. Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024 The police state does not want citizens who know their rights. Nisha Whitehead, Orange County Register, 22 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for police state 

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of police state was in 1851

Dictionary Entries Near police state

Cite this Entry

“Police state.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/police%20state. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

police state

noun
: a state in which the activities of the people are under the power of the government often acting through a secret police force
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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