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.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in authoritarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2025
This seems like a smart, more nuanced take on history than the Civilization series has typically offered — less deterministic and one that emphasizes the cross-pollination of societies rather than raw totalitarian might.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
In the ‘50s and ‘60s, thousands of middle- and upper-class opponents fled the totalitarian Haitian state, taking planes to New York, Canada, Africa and France.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2025
This seems like a smart, more nuanced take on history than the Civilization series has typically offered — less deterministic and one that emphasizes the cross-pollination of societies rather than raw totalitarian might.
—Lewis Gordon, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
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Currently, asylum seekers who committed crimes seen as political in nature—i.e. toward an oppressive regime—could be granted asylum, as could those guilty of misdemeanors.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
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But the show pulls back just enough on the oppressive horror vibes of Season Two without losing a perpetual sense of unease from those scenes.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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And as the United States veered away from longstanding alliances with European democracies and toward a brutal authoritarian regime, U.S. Pres.—
David Axe,
Forbes,
19 Feb. 2025
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Some human rights advocates are concerned about a growing alignment between how the Trump administration discusses democracy work and how authoritarian regimes frame the same topic.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
19 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The cover of the first issue of The New Yorker, dated Feb. 21, 1925, carried no portraits of potentates or tycoons, no headlines, no come-ons.—
Christopher B. Daly,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2025
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Or were all those billionaire potentates in the Capitol Rotunda — seated in front of Trump’s Cabinet picks — asserting their social, economic and cultural hegemony?—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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While Kyiv wrestles to persuade waffling Western leaders, Russia is building a coalition of autocrats to fortify the Kremlin’s war effort.—
Ihor N. Stelmach,
Hartford Courant,
22 Feb. 2025
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Although there is nothing uncommon about autocrats passing power to their children, Iran is a Shiite theocracy, and traditional Shiite philosophy strongly condemns hereditary rule.—
Akbar Ganji,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Presidents of the United States, and leaders of other democracies, have to deal with dictators.—
Jay Nordlinger,
National Review,
19 Feb. 2025
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Because China is Russia’s most important partner, any gains that Putin can salvage from his disastrous war forwards the two dictators’ global agenda.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2025
Noun
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John Lithgow plays an elderly care home tyrant out to drive an arrogant and partially paralyzed judge, played by Geoffrey Rush, insane in the official trailer for The Rule of Jenny Pen, which dropped Monday.—
Etan Vlessing,
The Hollywood Reporter,
24 Feb. 2025
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The Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth of tyrants, back-to-back.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes,
23 Feb. 2025
Articles Related to totalitarian
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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