totalitarianism

noun

to·​tal·​i·​tar·​i·​an·​ism (ˌ)tō-ˌta-lə-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm 

1

: centralized control by an autocratic authority

2

: the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority

Synonyms

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

Examples of totalitarianism in a Sentence

in times of crisis, when a nation's people are frightened, there are often calls for totalitarianism

Recent Examples on the Web

In an interview with Variety at the time of the film’s premiere at Cannes, Lawrence explained how the impetus for her involvement came from seeing news of Kabul’s fall and finding similarities to her own home country’s spiral towards totalitarianism. —Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2024

Reagan was one of the country’s great statesmen who prevailed in a titanic struggle between totalitarianism and freedom. —Rich Lowry, National Review, 4 Sep. 2024

But, as in these United States, the key question remains whether creeping totalitarianism — from the left and the right — will squeeze everyday people out of their inalienable right to just be their sometimes obnoxious, unkempt, idiosyncratic selves. —Ed Wallace, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024

And Ukraine is showing the question of how durable Western values are; whether the liberties and values of our Western democracy are something that will last — or whether totalitarianism, as exhibited for example in Putin's Russia — will win. —Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined at sense 1