as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power 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

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Examples Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of autocracy And once that happened, autocracy would seem as natural as the forest. Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024 On average, nations that transitioned from autocracy to democracy saw near-immediate improvements—within a decade, life expectancy increased by more than two years—and those which slid from democracy to autocracy experienced the opposite. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024 The recognition afforded by a Nobel Prize entrenches ideas within the mainstream, even when those ideas are questionable or the scientific autocracy proves unwise. James Broughel, Forbes, 12 Oct. 2024 The Southeast Asian state is one of a handful of countries overseen by an autocracy dominated by a communist party. Huong Le Thu, Foreign Affairs, 9 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for autocracy 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocracy
Noun
  • It's mainly made up of former and current law enforcement, former and current military, and these people see themselves as the last line of defense against government tyranny.
    Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2024
  • Finally, Gibney breaks away from nonstop Sopranos worship for secondhand memories of Gandolfini’s personal struggles on the series — the mixture of pressure and addiction — and Chase’s transition into some level of occasional tyranny.
    Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Sep. 2024
Noun
  • His thirty-two-year hard-line dictatorship witnessed political assassinations and the violent suppression of human rights by his army.
    Hung Duong, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The peace plan tried to secure Arab recognition of Israel’s 1967 conquests, in exchange for more American aid and arms sales to the brutal Egyptian, Saudi and Emirati dictatorships.
    Caise D. Hassan, Chicago Tribune, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • Forcible suppression of opposition is a key component in fascism.
    David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
  • The Parisian Surrealists emerged amid the fresh traumas of World War I, the alienation of rapid industrialization, and the horrors of rising fascism.
    Jack Denton, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • Although Adolf Hitler met his road to perdition, Joseph Stalin survived and extended his despotism.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 14 Mar. 2024
  • His thug military’s attacks — and those of his thug street enforcers known as colectivos — on Venezuelans who’ve taken to the streets to protest his Gómez-ish despotism?
    Tim Padgett, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near autocracy

Cite this Entry

“Autocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocracy. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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