as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a critical period that saw a number of third-world countries abandon authoritarianism for democracy
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for authoritarianism
Noun
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What happened in Anaheim a century ago shows how to combat tyranny and white supremacy — and also that the work is never really done.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2025 -
The monster was the liberation from the tyranny of image.—
E. Alex Jung,
Vulture,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The accusations, laid out in a 272-page indictment, suggest that Brazil came strikingly close to plunging back into, in effect, a military dictatorship nearly four decades into its modern democracy.—
Jack Nicas,
New York Times,
19 Feb. 2025
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Torres’ portrayal of Eunice Paiva, a mother who spent decades searching for justice after the disappearance of her husband during Brazil’s military dictatorship, has resonated with audiences and critics alike.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Democrats like to hurl around the charge of fascism at Republicans.—
Walter E Block,
Orange County Register,
13 Feb. 2025
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Who’s to say that a serious-minded semi-Marxist critique of economic desperation and the rise of fascism in the Star Wars universe is somehow harder than transplanting the 1980s Amblin sensibility to the same universe?—
Daniel Fienberg,
The Hollywood Reporter,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Following it all is independent journalist and Nobel Prize-winner Maria Ressa, with an eye toward the specter of increasing autocracy.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
14 Feb. 2025
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Iranians want a full-fledged democracy, not an autocracy.—
Akbar Ganji,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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And this particular slide into totalitarianism is a rather recent development (which gives one hope that it could be reversed).—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
26 Jan. 2025
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With the help of grants from Jewish groups, social psychologists, sociologists, and other scholars investigated how antisemitism was connected to totalitarianism, religion and other forms of racial and ethnic stereotyping.—
Asaf Elia-Shalev,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Cutting bureaucracy isn’t usually associated with despotism and power grabs.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
28 Feb. 2025
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Picking your form of government used to feel like an existential choice, but now despotism and oligarchy are hardly differentiated.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Authoritarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/authoritarianism. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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