dictators
Power without limits
Dictators is the plural of dictator, a ruler who holds absolute power, typically seized rather than inherited or democratically granted.
Dictators govern without meaningful checks on their authority: The country suffered under a succession of military dictators.
The word extends to anyone who demands unquestioning obedience: My boss is a dictator about the dress code.
State controls everything absolutely
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- oligarchyRule by few
- kleptocracyState-sponsored looting system
- gulagForced labor prison system
purge · revolution · seizure · overthrow · installed · toppled · fallen · exiled
Ruler with absolute power
- tyrantCruel, absolute ruler
- strongmanPowerful lifter or despot
- overlordSupreme feudal superior
- supremoInformal term for leader
potentate · czar · fuehrer · generalissimo · caudillo · duce · warlord · usurper
Biased information for influence
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
coercion · intimidation · purge · disappearance · detention · exile · assassination · curfew
Nazi Germany's totalitarian leader
- StalinSoviet autocrat, mid-century
- MussoliniItalian fascist premier
- MaoChinese family name
- FrancoSpanish surname, famous dictator
Pinochet · Gaddafi · Saddam · Castro · Duvalier · Marcos · Suharto · Tito
Unforgivable mass cruelty
- massacreLarge-scale unlawful killing
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- executionCompleting a planned task
persecution · oppression · repression · cruelty · inhumanity · ruthlessness · terror · violence
Ultranationalist dictatorial political system
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- communismCollective ownership system
- militarismPro-force national policy
dogma · doctrine · xenophobia · expansionism · imperialism · ultranationalism
totalitarianism
State controls everything absolutely
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- oligarchyRule by few
- kleptocracyState-sponsored looting system
gulag · purge · revolution · seizure · overthrow · installed · toppled · fallen · exiled
despot
Ruler with absolute power
supremo · potentate · czar · fuehrer · generalissimo · caudillo · duce · warlord · usurper · junta
propaganda
Biased information for influence
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
suppression · coercion · intimidation · purge · disappearance · detention · exile · assassination · curfew · blacklist
Hitler
Nazi Germany's totalitarian leader
Franco · Pinochet · Gaddafi · Saddam · Castro · Duvalier · Marcos · Suharto · Tito · Noriega
atrocity
Unforgivable mass cruelty
- massacreLarge-scale unlawful killing
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
execution · persecution · oppression · repression · cruelty · inhumanity · ruthlessness · terror · violence · imprisonment
fascism
Ultranationalist dictatorial political system
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- nationalismDevotion to one's country
- communismCollective ownership system
militarism · dogma · doctrine · xenophobia · expansionism · imperialism · ultranationalism
- African LeadersNelson Mandela, Haile Selassie, Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe, Muammar Gaddafi
- Dominican FiguresTrujillo, national heroes, presidents, political leaders, patriots
- oppressorstyrants, despots, autocrats, authoritarians, totalitarians
- Roman societypatrician, patricians, plebeian, plebeians, citizen
- Ancient RomeRome, Julius Caesar, Caesar, gladiator, gladiators
- historical figureshistorical figures, leaders, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc
dictatorselected representatives
Chosen holders of public office
democrats · elected officials · representatives · public servants · parliamentarians
dictatorsparliaments
National legislative assemblies
congresses · legislatures · democracies · assemblies · councils
dictatorsliberators
Those who free captives
freedom fighters · emancipators · abolitionists · reformers · revolutionaries
- military dictator
- military dictatorshipRegime ruled by armed forces
- tin-pot dictatorWeak ruler pretending grandeur
- tinpot dictatorContemptible small-scale authoritarian
- tin-pot dictatorshipWeak authoritarian state
- The Great Dictator1940 satirical film