Despotism

Definitions

Government by a despot or despots: rule by a singular authority, either a single person or a tight-knit group, which rules with absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.

countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“The iron⟳ hand of despotism has quenched the last⟳ spark of liberty; hunted down like⟳ a wild beast, I am watching an opportunity to fly⟳ my degraded and enslaved country.”

“But now events have⟳ proved that I was right because Khrushchev's grandchildren do live⟳ in freedom and the great question⟳ of our time: can they continue⟳ to live⟳ in freedom, or will they revert to the old, or a new despotism?”

CEFR level