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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Recent Examples of autocracy
Then China would have greater freedom to support autocracies such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea in their destabilizing activities.
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Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2024
The nation seemed to be sleepwalking toward autocracy until the sudden ascent of presidential hopeful Kamala Harris changed everything.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2024
As its divisions with Washington have deepened, Beijing has ramped up efforts to challenge US global leadership and shape an international order into one that favors China and other autocracies.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
Applebaum argues that Western democracies must reckon with their complicity in the spread of kleptocratic autocracy through offshore banking, money laundering, business deals, and ideological support from right-wing fellow travelers.
—Foreign Affairs, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for autocracy 
Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2024
The nation seemed to be sleepwalking toward autocracy until the sudden ascent of presidential hopeful Kamala Harris changed everything.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 20 Aug. 2024
As its divisions with Washington have deepened, Beijing has ramped up efforts to challenge US global leadership and shape an international order into one that favors China and other autocracies.
—Simone McCarthy, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024
Applebaum argues that Western democracies must reckon with their complicity in the spread of kleptocratic autocracy through offshore banking, money laundering, business deals, and ideological support from right-wing fellow travelers.
—Foreign Affairs, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for autocracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for autocracy
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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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
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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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
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His thug military’s attacks — and those of his thug street enforcers known as colectivos — on Venezuelans who’ve taken to the streets to protest his Gómez-ish despotism?Tim Padgett, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Aug. 2024
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Thesaurus Entries Near autocracy
Cite this Entry
“Autocracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocracy. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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