despotism

Meanings

Plural: despotisms

Noun

• dominance through threat of punishment and violence
• a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
• 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.

Synonyms

absolutism, authoritarianism, autocracy, Caesarism, dictatorship, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny

Related Words

despot, despotate, despotic