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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2022
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
Skyler Trepel, People.com, 30 June 2025
Still, in a totalitarian state, writers often became martyrs of free expression, dissidents like Vaclav Havel and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, refugees such as Czesław Miłosz and Joseph Brodsky.
—Ed Simon
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
But, ten years later, his embrace of near-totalitarian control bears the deep imprint of his most personal beliefs about force, weakness, faith, and order.
—Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2022
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
Noun
In yet another series with similarities to Squid Game, The Purge is set in an alternate dystopian future run by a totalitarian government.
—Skyler Trepel, People.com, 30 June 2025
Still, in a totalitarian state, writers often became martyrs of free expression, dissidents like Vaclav Havel and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, refugees such as Czesław Miłosz and Joseph Brodsky.
—Ed Simon
june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
-
Forceful change to address an oppressive boardroom dynamic may be necessary.—
Michael Peregrine,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
-
The oppressive heat certainly affected spectators and stadium staff.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
The film is filled to the brim with real people and incidents, providing an entertaining primer to explain how a former Communist country was transformed into a cutthroat capitalist regime ruled by an authoritarian modeling himself on Stalin.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
-
Trump and Lake silenced an organization that began during World War II, intended as a U.S. counterbalance to authoritarian propaganda.—
Ronald J. Hansen,
AZCentral.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Why don’t all the rich potentates, sheiks, oligarchs and MAGA dictators meet and fix it?—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
-
With the pandemic, the year-round population of a once-seasonal resort town swelled with Manhattan refugees, those in the Trump orbit, and tech and finance potentates, many of them serious collectors like Ken Griffin and Steve Ross.—
Ben Widdicombe,
Vulture,
12 May 2025
Noun
-
Unlike democratic politicians who must constantly justify their actions to skeptical publics and hostile media, autocrats like Putin and Kim arrive at these summits with clear, patient, long-term objectives.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
16 Aug. 2025
-
As autocrats commonly do, Trump is seeking control over the national capital in order to intimidate and squelch dissent.—
Robert Weissman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
In the Dominican Republic, dictator Rafael Trujillo went so far as to rename the capital after himself.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
-
Donald Trump is praising North Korea’s dictator — to the face of South Korea’s president.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The beneficiaries of this trend are tyrants, demagogues, and other power-wielders.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Aug. 2025
-
What has shifted, however, is the collective resolve to confront the barriers that hinder its realization and the election of a tyrant who is creative enough to manipulate the majority white masses of citizens.—
Kevin A. Slayton Sr,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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