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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
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
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Word History
First Known Use
1851, in the meaning defined above
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
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