as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
by the end of the 20th century many countries around the world had rejected despotism in favor of democracy
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Recent Examples of despotism
For decades, his despotism and depravity was limited to the long-suffering Russian people.
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New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Mar. 2024
Authoritarians claim that only after scapegoats are purged can a nation be remade in the image of its strong leader, even as the nation, in purging those enemies, degenerates into despotism and lawlessness.
—Richard Cherwitz, Hartford Courant, 13 Mar. 2024
The New York Times argued that Tweed’s prosecution offered a chance for New York City to rid itself of corruption, attract business and finance, and show new immigrants that America was a beacon for those fleeing despotism in other parts of the world.
—Ray Brescia / Made By History, TIME, 20 May 2024
So, between now and November expect Democrats and their media allies to argue endlessly, the only thing standing between American democracy and the despotism and heartless cruelty Republicans will undoubtedly bring is Biden.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for despotism 
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 15 Mar. 2024
Authoritarians claim that only after scapegoats are purged can a nation be remade in the image of its strong leader, even as the nation, in purging those enemies, degenerates into despotism and lawlessness.
—Richard Cherwitz, Hartford Courant, 13 Mar. 2024
The New York Times argued that Tweed’s prosecution offered a chance for New York City to rid itself of corruption, attract business and finance, and show new immigrants that America was a beacon for those fleeing despotism in other parts of the world.
—Ray Brescia / Made By History, TIME, 20 May 2024
So, between now and November expect Democrats and their media allies to argue endlessly, the only thing standing between American democracy and the despotism and heartless cruelty Republicans will undoubtedly bring is Biden.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 17 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for despotism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despotism
Noun
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The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers.Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
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The show is airing at a time when a lot of people are thinking about tyranny in a very concrete way.Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Older generations lived under the violent military dictatorships of the nineteen-sixties, seventies, and eighties, and young people are aware of this legacy.E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2024
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Of 5,000 people held at the school during the dictatorship, fewer than 250 survived.Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The similarities among these places are real, because Russia, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and, until now, Syria all belong to an informal network of autocracies.Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 8 Dec. 2024
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Assad may melt away into exile in a lavish row of Moscow dachas, and his hollow autocracy may crumble fast.Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Under rules designed to prevent the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can only dissolve parliament and call an election if the chancellor calls, and loses, a confidence vote.Fox News, Fox News, 16 Dec. 2024
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Years later, in 2016, Viren sets out to write a book that treats that period in her life as an allegory for the rise of fascism in the United States.Tajja Isen, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Despotism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despotism. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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