dictatorship

plural dictatorships

1. A type of government where absolute sovereignty is allotted to an individual or a small clique.
2. A government which exercises autocratic rule.

   There were no elections during Franco's dictatorship.

   4 more examples

   DAIREN, South Manchuria, Oct. 12. -- South China with its Communists, the Yangtse Valley with rampant anti-foreignism and incessant civil warfare and Peking with Marshal Chang Tso-lin attempting to consolidate his dictatorship and found a stable central Government -- these seem to be the major constituents of the Chinese problem until one visits Manchuria.

   1927 November 13, Hallett Abend, “GRIM STRUGGLE ON TO RULE MANCHURIA; China, Russia and Japan Bid for Supremacy of Vast Domain, Realizing It May End in War. DAIREN A SPOTLESS CITY Built by Japan, It Is Clean and Modern In Contrast to Dirty and Inefficient Towns of South. GRIM STRUGGLE ON TO RULE MANCHURIA”, in The New York Times (EDITORIALE section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jan 2024, page 1

   His object, he declares, is not to set up a dictatorship but to achieve 'true democracy' by combating the idea of tolerance, on the ground that the vast majority cannot form right judgements when their minds are deformed by democratic sources of information.

   1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 413

   My parents had survived war and dictatorship before the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 allowed more non-Europeans to immigrate to the United States, and they overcompensated for the austerity of their childhoods by allowing me to consume any food I wanted, with a side of guilt trip.

   2017 April 6, Lisa Ko, “What ‘White’ Food Meant to a First-Generation Kid”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2020

   The 21st century will largely be defined as a showdown between dictatorships and democracies. Right now, the dictatorships look strong.

   2024 August 5, Marcel Dirsus, “The big idea: how do you get rid of a dictator?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2024

3. Any household, institution, or other organization that is run under such sovereignty or autocracy.
4. broadlyTotal authority, control, or domination.

   It has had a deplorable effect in furnishing pretexts for the stifling of all independent philosophical thought and in establishing the party's dictatorship over science and culture in every sphere.

   1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 464