autocracy

noun

au·​toc·​ra·​cy ȯ-ˈtä-krə-sē 

plural autocracies

1

: the authority or rule of an autocrat

2

: government in which one person possesses unlimited power

3

: a community or state governed by autocracy

Synonyms

• absolutism
• autarchy
• authoritarianism
• Caesarism
• czarism
• tsarism
• tzarism
• despotism
• dictatorship
• totalism
• totalitarianism
• tyranny

Examples of autocracy in a Sentence

the Magna Carta is historically important because it signified the British rejection of autocracy and constituted the first formal restraining of the power of the monarch

Recent Examples on the Web

There are good reasons to believe that a permanent slide into autocracy is harder in the U.S. than in those countries. —Jennifer Victor, The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2025

Investors are already fleeing as the county grows more authoritarian, and a slide into full autocracy will hardly bring them back. —Gonul Tol, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2025

Tsarist Russia’s Feminist Intelligentsia Matthew Wills December 11, 2019 In the context of Russia's patriarchal autocracy, its intelligentsia was surprisingly feminist, as Vera Podorovskaya's life illustrates. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 3 Mar. 2025

His reports leaned into the country’s slide toward autocracy. —Justin Kroll, Deadline, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "self-control," borrowed from Greek autokrateîa "self-control, power over oneself," from autokratḗs "ruling by itself (of a mind), with sole authority (for a task)" + -ia -y entry 2 — more at autocrat

Note: The word acquired the present meaning under the influence of Latin autocratōr (from about the fifth century on) and Greek autokrátōr, meaning "with sole authority," and later by association with autocrat. See note at autocrat.

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for autocracy

• bureaucracy
• democracy
• hypocrisy
• plutocracy
• theocracy
• aristocracy
• meritocracy

Kids Definition

autocracy

noun

au·​toc·​ra·​cy ȯ-ˈtäk-rə-sē 

plural autocracies

: government in which one person has unlimited power