Absolutism
['æbsəluːtɪz(ə)m] or ['æbsəlutɪzəm]
Definition
(noun.) the doctrine of an absolute being.
(noun.) the principle of complete and unrestricted power in government.
(noun.) dominance through threat of punishment and violence.
Edited by Angus--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The state of being absolute; the system or doctrine of the absolute; the principles or practice of absolute or arbitrary government; despotism.
(n.) Doctrine of absolute decrees.
Editor: Nettie
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Absoluteness, arbitrariness, despotism, tyranny, autocracy.
Editor: Segre
Examples
- An absolutism like Russia's is served better when the people accept their ideas as authoritative and piously sacrifice humanity to a non-human purpose. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- All over the world the close of the sixteenth century saw monarchy prevailing and tending towards absolutism. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In the old absolutisms the monarch was either God himself or the adopted agent of God; the Kaiser took God for his trusty henchman. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Typist: Stephanie