as in oppressive
controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed
A totalitarian state that did not even allow outsiders to visit.
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as in authoritarian
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
In response, research programs investigating the slippage of democracy and increases in totalitarian governance are increasing not only in psychology but in adjacent fields such as public policy, political science, sociology and philosophy.
—Laura Niemi, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 2024
Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See all Example Sentences for totalitarian 
Adjective
Young Army was established two years after the 2014 annexation of Crimea, when Putin’s Kremlin had already begun its totalitarian turn.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
In response, research programs investigating the slippage of democracy and increases in totalitarian governance are increasing not only in psychology but in adjacent fields such as public policy, political science, sociology and philosophy.
—Laura Niemi, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 2024
Noun
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See all Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
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The concrete there takes, to me, a much more miserable, oppressive tone.Owen Davies, Curbed, 4 Nov. 2024
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Boyer is seven years his junior, and Sell struggles to return Boyer’s oppressive flat serve, winning only the first game of the second set.Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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In our age of brutal wars, authoritarian politics, cultures of contempt, and technology that promises to replace us with machines, what is left of the idea of the human being?George Packer, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
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Autocratic The autocratic style is also known as authoritarian leadership.Jason Miller, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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A number of sports potentates will be making the Idaho scene, at a moment when tens of billions of dollars are changing hands in pursuit of ever-valuable rights.Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 10 July 2024
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By cracking the whip on local potentates, the party bolsters its already substantial public support and reinforces the power of central institutions.Dali Yang, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017
Noun
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This shock-the-monkey approach might have a sliver of merit if the U.S. economy were self-sufficient in renewables and if the autocrats weren’t poised to capitalize by filling the vacuum with their far more carbon-intensive oil and gas and less environmentally friendly refining techniques.Dan Ikenson, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
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The country’s revolution inspired millions of people across the Middle East to rise up against their own autocrats.Sarah E. Yerkes, Foreign Affairs, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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April 27: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump VP hopeful, comes under fire for detailing her decision to shoot a family dog and including a false anecdote about meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in her memoir.Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024
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Trump, who has praised the Russian dictator and refused to vocally support Ukraine, would sooner hop on a three-way phone call with Musk and Putin.Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The greatest of all tyrants thunders onto screen in this thrilling story of fossil discovery by three young boys.Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
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Petty tyrants are trifling with science, national security, and the state’s economy.John Fund, National Review, 13 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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