as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
warned that forfeiture of civil liberties for the sake of security would only result in the terror of totalism
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Recent Examples of totalism
Common sense and a mania for systematization, logical thinking and ideological totalism, are constantly at war in the French character, as a belief in instant happiness and a paranoia about imaginary enemies are in the American.
—
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalism
Noun
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By settling with Trump, two of the firms that Trump targeted — Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps — have disgraced the legal community and turned their backs on their public duty to fight tyranny.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
1 Apr. 2025
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The Trump deportations Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez case spotlights wrong federal priorities in deportation cases Deportation as theater is the wrong tactic History has shown us that when governments operate without checks and balances, tyranny follows.—
Nisha Whitehead,
Oc Register,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Cattaneo and Pope manage to balance the tone of a dramatic historical depiction of fascism with a charming animal story and their secret weapon is Coogan.—
Katie Walsh,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Mar. 2025
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Don’t miss the upstairs museum, which displays priceless menorahs, prayer books, shofars and other historic artifacts, with windows that overlook the grave markers in the courtyard, a remnant of the old Budapest ghetto, where more than 2,000 victims of fascism were buried.—
Evan Rail,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The digital age thrives on collaboration, not dictatorship.—
Nono Bokete,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
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The film makes more than a token effort to explore the material and psychological realities of life under fascist rule, and the transformation of a charming agrarian utopia into an austere military dictatorship.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.—
Claude Malhuret,
The Atlantic,
8 Mar. 2025
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Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty notably helped spread American culture and news during the Cold War, undermining totalitarianism.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
18 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In our skies as in our social lives, incremental change, like ring rain, seems to work slowly, while acts of frightening absolutism seem to happen overnight.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2024
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In other words, the absolutism or the abolitionist approach to cutting out meat from our diet doesn’t work for a lot of people.—
Shalom Daniel,
Forbes,
19 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Totalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalism. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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