Meanings
plural police states
- derogatoryusuallyA political entity, usually a state, whose government exercises strict and repressive control of its people.
You didn't know there is […] an active campaign, propaganda and otherwise, […] against all kinds of security procedures on the ground that they are all police state methods and all interfere with individual rights?
1964 September 16, J. G. Sourwine, “Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigatee the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Eighty-Ninth Congress First Session”, in hearing (US Senate), volume 10, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, page 6742 more examples
[Mo:] But out there in the real world they're bombing abortion clinics... holding Nazi and KKK rallies... trying to quarantine people who might have AIDS. They're making secret weapons deals to illegally fund so-called "freedom fighters" and calling it "the Lord's work"!! We're living in a Protestant police state […]
1987, Alison Bechdel, “High Anxiety”, in Dykes to Watch Out ForA gun up in our faces and they never gave a reason / The writing's on the wall, the politics are fake / Its clear to me we're livin' in a police state […] The prisons are for profit, its society's mistake / How macabre, we been living in a police state
2015, “Police State”, in Police State, performed by Tropidelic
Origin
- GermanPolizeistaat
- Englishpolice state
Likely a calque of German Polizeistaat adopted following the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 and the ensuing Demagogenverfolgungen, culminating in the crackdown of liberal and anarchical movements popular in the 1840s during the German revolutions of 1848–1849. Equivalent to police + state.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans polisiestaat
- polisiestaatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Arabic دَوْلَة بُولِيسِيَّة, دَوْلَة شُرْطِيَّة
- دَوْلَة بُولِيسِيَّة (dawla būlīsiyya)political entity whose government controls people by using police
- دَوْلَة شُرْطِيَّة (dawla šurṭiyya)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Basque polizia estatu
- polizia estatupolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Bulgarian полице́йска държа́ва
- полице́йска държа́ва (policéjska dăržáva)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Catalan estat policia
- estat policiapolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Chinese Mandarin 警察國家 /警察国家
- 警察國家 /警察国家 (jǐngchá guójiā)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Czech policejní stát
- policejní státpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Danish politistat
- politistatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Dutch politiestaat
- politiestaatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Esperanto polica ŝtato
- polica ŝtatopolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Estonian politseiriik
- politseiriikpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Finnish poliisivaltio
- poliisivaltiopolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
French État policier
- État policierpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
German Polizeistaat
- Polizeistaatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Greek αστυνομικό κράτος, αστυνομοκρατία
- αστυνομικό κράτος (astynomikó krátos)political entity whose government controls people by using police
- αστυνομοκρατία (astynomokratía)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Hindi पुलिस राज्य
- पुलिस राज्य (pulis rājya)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Hungarian rendőrállam
- rendőrállampolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Icelandic lögregluríki
- lögregluríkipolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Indonesian negara polisi
- negara polisipolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Italian stato di polizia
- stato di poliziapolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Japanese 警察国家
- 警察国家 (keisatsu kokka)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Korean 경찰 국가
- 경찰 국가 (gyeongchal gukga)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Latvian policijas valsts
- policijas valstspolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Lithuanian policinė valstybė
- policinė valstybėpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Malay negara polis
- negara polispolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Norwegian Bokmål politistat
- politistatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Polish państwo policyjne
- państwo policyjnepolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Portuguese estado policial
- estado policialpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Romanian stat polițienesc
- stat polițienescpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Russian полице́йское госуда́рство
- полице́йское госуда́рство (policéjskoje gosudárstvo)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Slovak policajný štát
- policajný štátpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Spanish estado policial
- estado policialpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Swedish polisstat
- polisstatpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Tagalog estadong pulis
- estadong pulispolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Turkish polis devleti
- polis devletipolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Ukrainian поліці́йна держа́ва, поліце́йська держа́ва
- поліці́йна держа́ва (policíjna deržáva)political entity whose government controls people by using police
- поліце́йська держа́ва (policéjsʹka deržáva)political entity whose government controls people by using police
Vietnamese nhà nước cảnh sát
- nhà nước cảnh sátpolitical entity whose government controls people by using police
Cite this entry
police state. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/police%20state
“police state.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/police%20state. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “police state,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/police%20state.
Source: police state on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.