as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
in times of crisis, when a nation's people are frightened, there are often calls for totalitarianism
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Recent Examples of totalitarianism
Reagan was one of the country’s great statesmen who prevailed in a titanic struggle between totalitarianism and freedom.
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Rich Lowry, National Review, 4 Sep. 2024
But, as in these United States, the key question remains whether creeping totalitarianism — from the left and the right — will squeeze everyday people out of their inalienable right to just be their sometimes obnoxious, unkempt, idiosyncratic selves.
—Ed Wallace, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
And Ukraine is showing the question of how durable Western values are; whether the liberties and values of our Western democracy are something that will last — or whether totalitarianism, as exhibited for example in Putin's Russia — will win.
—Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024
The specter of nuclear annihilation loomed only dimly in his thoughts, but Kennan recognized that competition with Soviet totalitarianism held immeasurable risks.
—Richard Babcock, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for totalitarianism 
Rich Lowry, National Review, 4 Sep. 2024
But, as in these United States, the key question remains whether creeping totalitarianism — from the left and the right — will squeeze everyday people out of their inalienable right to just be their sometimes obnoxious, unkempt, idiosyncratic selves.
—Ed Wallace, New York Daily News, 6 June 2024
And Ukraine is showing the question of how durable Western values are; whether the liberties and values of our Western democracy are something that will last — or whether totalitarianism, as exhibited for example in Putin's Russia — will win.
—Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024
The specter of nuclear annihilation loomed only dimly in his thoughts, but Kennan recognized that competition with Soviet totalitarianism held immeasurable risks.
—Richard Babcock, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for totalitarianism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarianism
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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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
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
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Cite this Entry
“Totalitarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarianism. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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