Meanings
plural despotisms
- countableuncountableGovernment 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.
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.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 1361 more example
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?
1992 March 30, Richard Nixon, 4:50 from the start, in Richard Nixon on "Inside Washington", Richard Nixon Foundation, retrieved 25 May 2020Synonyms: absolutism, autocracy, dictatorship, tyranny
Synonyms & antonyms
nounGovernment 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.
More synonyms by meaning
noundominance through threat of punishment and violence
nouna form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdespotisme
- Englishdespotism
From French despotisme; equivalent to despot + -ism.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِسْتِبْدَاد, ظُلْم
- اِسْتِبْدَاد (istibdād)government by a singular authority
- ظُلْم (ẓulm)government by a singular authority
Basque despotismo
- despotismogovernment by a singular authority
Bulgarian деспоти́зъм
- деспоти́зъм (despotízăm)government by a singular authority
Catalan despotisme
- despotismegovernment by a singular authority
Chinese Cantonese 專制政體 /专制政体
- 專制政體 /专制政体government by a singular authority
Chinese Mandarin 專制 /专制, 專制主義 /专制主义
- 專制 /专制 (zhuānzhì)government by a singular authority
- 專制主義 /专制主义 (zhuānzhìzhǔyì)government by a singular authority
- 獨裁 /独裁 (dúcái)government by a singular authority
- 暴政 (bàozhèng)government by a singular authority
Czech despotismus, despocie
- despotismusgovernment by a singular authority
- despociegovernment by a singular authority
Danish despoti
- despotigovernment by a singular authority
Dutch despotisme
- despotismegovernment by a singular authority
Esperanto despotismo
- despotismogovernment by a singular authority
Estonian despotism
- despotismgovernment by a singular authority
Finnish itsevaltius
- itsevaltiusgovernment by a singular authority
French despotisme
- despotismegovernment by a singular authority
German Despotie, Despotismus
- Despotiegovernment by a singular authority
- Despotismusgovernment by a singular authority
- Willkürherrschaftgovernment by a singular authority
Greek δεσποτισμός
- δεσποτισμός (despotismós)government by a singular authority
Hebrew רוֹדָנוּת
- רוֹדָנוּת (rodanút)government by a singular authority
Hindi तानाशाही, स्वेच्छाचारिता
- तानाशाही (tānāśāhī)government by a singular authority
- स्वेच्छाचारिता (svecchācāritā)government by a singular authority
Hungarian despotizmus
- despotizmusgovernment by a singular authority
Icelandic harðstjórn
- harðstjórngovernment by a singular authority
Indonesian despotisme, istibdad
- despotismegovernment by a singular authority
- istibdadgovernment by a singular authority
Irish forlámhas, smachtúlacht
- forlámhasgovernment by a singular authority
- smachtúlachtgovernment by a singular authority
- tíorántachtgovernment by a singular authority
Italian dispotismo
- dispotismogovernment by a singular authority
Japanese 専制, 独裁主義
- 専制 (sensei)government by a singular authority
- 独裁主義 (dokusaishugi)government by a singular authority
- 独裁 (dokusai)government by a singular authority
- 暴政 (bōsei)government by a singular authority
Korean 전제, 독재
- 전제 (jeonje)government by a singular authority
- 독재 (dokjae)government by a singular authority
- 폭정 (pokjeong)government by a singular authority
Latin despotismus
- despotismusgovernment by a singular authority
Latvian despotisms
- despotismsgovernment by a singular authority
Lithuanian despotizmas
- despotizmasgovernment by a singular authority
Malay despotisme
- despotismegovernment by a singular authority
Norwegian Bokmål despoti
- despotigovernment by a singular authority
Persian استبداد, ظلم
- استبداد (estebdâd)government by a singular authority
- ظلم (zolm)government by a singular authority
Polish despotyzm
- despotyzmgovernment by a singular authority
Portuguese despotismo
- despotismogovernment by a singular authority
Punjabi ਧੱਕੇਸ਼ਾਹੀ
- ਧੱਕੇਸ਼ਾਹੀ (dhakkeśāhī)government by a singular authority
Romanian despotism
- despotismgovernment by a singular authority
Russian деспоти́зм, произво́л
- деспоти́зм (despotízm)government by a singular authority
- произво́л (proizvól)government by a singular authority
- деспоти́я (despotíja)government by a singular authority
Slovak despotizmus
- despotizmusgovernment by a singular authority
Spanish despotismo
- despotismogovernment by a singular authority
Swedish despoti, despotism
- despotigovernment by a singular authority
- despotismgovernment by a singular authority
Thai ระบบใช้อำนาจเด็ดขาด
- ระบบใช้อำนาจเด็ดขาด (rá-bòp chái am-nâat dèt kàat)government by a singular authority
Turkish despotizm, istibdat
- despotizmgovernment by a singular authority
- istibdatgovernment by a singular authority
Ukrainian деспоти́зм
- деспоти́зм (despotýzm)government by a singular authority
Urdu اِسْتِبْدَاد
- اِسْتِبْدَاد (istibdād)government by a singular authority
Cite this entry
despotism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despotism
“despotism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despotism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “despotism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despotism.
Source: despotism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.