as in tyranny
a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power
the Magna Carta is historically important because it signified the British rejection of autocracy and constituted the first formal restraining of the power of the monarch
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of autocracy
In response, autocracies such as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia militarize against the United States and try to divide its alliances and subvert its democracy.
—
Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
According to a European survey of more than two hundred countries, 2022 was the first time in two decades that closed autocracies outnumbered liberal democracies in the world.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
Venezuela tipped almost completely into autocracy during the regimes of Hugo Chávez and now President Nicolás Maduro — most recently producing an election whose results favoring the opposition were blithely ignored by Maduro, who has cracked down on protest instead.
—Ben Ansell, NPR, 20 Dec. 2024
When the Arab Spring erupted across the Middle East in 2011, several autocracies were toppled and powerful Islamist groups rose to fill the vacuum in countries, including Tunisia and Egypt.
—Ismaeel Naar, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for autocracy 
Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
According to a European survey of more than two hundred countries, 2022 was the first time in two decades that closed autocracies outnumbered liberal democracies in the world.
—Chang Che, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2024
Venezuela tipped almost completely into autocracy during the regimes of Hugo Chávez and now President Nicolás Maduro — most recently producing an election whose results favoring the opposition were blithely ignored by Maduro, who has cracked down on protest instead.
—Ben Ansell, NPR, 20 Dec. 2024
When the Arab Spring erupted across the Middle East in 2011, several autocracies were toppled and powerful Islamist groups rose to fill the vacuum in countries, including Tunisia and Egypt.
—Ismaeel Naar, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for autocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocracy
Noun
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When Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, and the rest of their ragtag fugitive fleet fled the Cylon tyranny, one of their first ports of call was the pleasure planet of Carillon for a spot of R&R.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
15 Jan. 2025
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During that terrifying first year of tyranny, Mon Mothma, Saw Gerrera, and Bail Organa face the encroaching darkness.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Molina, a gay hairdresser convicted of public indecency during Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship, has been sent to the political wing of a prison and put in the same cell as Valentin Arregui (a solid, if unremarkable Diego Luna), an intense and serious-minded Marxist revolutionary.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 Jan. 2025
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And ultimately, South Koreans may decide the time has come to revise the constitution, written in 1948 under U.S. military occupation and last revised in 1987 under military dictatorship.—
John Delury,
Foreign Affairs,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Hepburn’s hatred of fascism and the Nazis was especially resonant to people on Reddit.—
Martha Ross,
The Mercury News,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Reviewed by Andrew Moravcsik January/February 2025 Published on In This Review Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich By Richard J. Evans Save Who would support fascism today?—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
14 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Western governments have burdened Georgia with a special status as a democracy-in-the-making in a region otherwise beset by despotism.—
Christian Caryl,
Foreign Affairs,
26 Dec. 2024
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Although Adolf Hitler met his road to perdition, Joseph Stalin survived and extended his despotism.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 Mar. 2024
Articles Related to autocracy
Thesaurus Entries Near autocracy
Cite this Entry
“Autocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocracy. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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