Despotism
['despətɪz(ə)m] or ['dɛspətɪzəm]
Definition
(n.) The power, spirit, or principles of a despot; absolute control over others; tyrannical sway; tyranny.
(n.) A government which is directed by a despot; a despotic monarchy; absolutism; autocracy.
Inputed by Kurt
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Autocracy, absolutism, dictatorship, tyranny, absolute power, arbitrary rule.
Checked by Klaus
Examples
- The veil fell from his hardness and despotism. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- And he came back professing to be a changed man; there was to be no more despotism; he would respect the constitution régime. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Oh, my friends and fellow-countrymen, the slaves of an iron-handed and a grinding despotism! Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- My taste must have satisfaction, or disgust would break out in despotism, or worse--freeze to utter iciness. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- In our infancy we require a wise despotism to govern us. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- It might or might not tolerate the outsider and the slave, but they had no legal voice in their treatment--any more than if it had been a despotism. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Constitution is or was a moderate despotism, tempered by a Chamber that might or might not be elected. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Editor: Madge