as in dictatorship
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
a popular uprising replaced that nation's tyranny with freedom and democracy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tyranny
The guitar, by transitive property, broke down racial and class barriers, fought tyranny, freed up minds and bodies.
—
Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
The Founding Fathers, having witnessed the abuses of centralized power under British rule, embedded this model into the Constitution to ensure a system of checks and balances, where each branch could limit the powers of the others, safeguarding against tyranny and upholding the rule of law.
—Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
Wooster struggled to govern Montreal’s divided citizens and often erred on the side of tyranny.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 May 2025
To inform his portrait of a civilization giving itself over to tyranny, Lucas had harked back to history and myth.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tyranny
Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
The Founding Fathers, having witnessed the abuses of centralized power under British rule, embedded this model into the Constitution to ensure a system of checks and balances, where each branch could limit the powers of the others, safeguarding against tyranny and upholding the rule of law.
—Andy J. Semotiuk, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
Wooster struggled to govern Montreal’s divided citizens and often erred on the side of tyranny.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 May 2025
To inform his portrait of a civilization giving itself over to tyranny, Lucas had harked back to history and myth.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tyranny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tyranny
Noun
-
His parents, Marcelo Netto and Miriam Leitão, are both journalists who resisted the dictatorship and were persecuted.—
Marcelo Cajueiro,
Variety,
27 May 2025
-
Nicaraguan journalists, exiled in Costa Rica because of the dictatorship at home, launched a crowdfunding campaign following the U.S. cuts.—
Nelson Mauricio Rauda Zablah,
Christian Science Monitor,
23 May 2025
Noun
-
Daniel Kehlmann’s latest novel, The Director, documents the little compromises that led G. W. Pabst, like millions of other people, to accept fascism.—
Susan Neiman,
The New York Review of Books,
22 May 2025
-
Jews tend to teach their children to be wary of fascism from a very young age, with its nationalist bombast, its cult of masculinity, its contempt for pluralism and its relentless, bludgeoning lies.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
21 May 2025
Noun
-
Now American culture bows down to Anna Wintour’s despotism.—
Armond White,
National Review,
9 May 2025
-
The necessity of power sharing also meant that Congress could provide a check against despotism even if the same party held the Presidency and a majority in both houses.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
In the middle of the twentieth century, understandably proud of America’s indispensable role in defeating totalitarian autocracy, historians tended to emphasize our nation’s undeniable achievements.—
James T. Kloppenberg,
Time,
28 May 2025
-
But if current trends are allowed to continue, Europe may soon encounter a completely militarized autocracy on its borders that is similar to North Korea’s in structure, and far more dangerous.—
ANDREI YAKOVLEV,
Foreign Affairs,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
This lively novel examines the compromises and complicity of artists working in the face of totalitarianism through a fictional retelling of the life of the Austrian film director G. W. Pabst.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
-
Communism and other forms of totalitarianism are often said to be antihuman.—
Rich Lowry,
National Review,
19 May 2025
Noun
-
Women, regardless of hue, were excluded from the ballot with monastic absolutism.—
Jack Hill,
Baltimore Sun,
17 May 2025
-
Bolton’s moral absolutism does not play well there.—
Christopher Sabatini,
Foreign Affairs,
21 Mar. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Tyranny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tyranny. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share