Meanings
comparative more tyrannical · superlative most tyrannical · alternative tyrannic
- comparableDespotic, oppressive, or authoritarian.
tyrannical rulers
2 more examples
a tyrannical regime
She met more than a quarter of all the American presidents who have ever lived, five popes, hundreds of national leaders, from the saintly, such as Nelson Mandela, to the tyrannical, including Robert Mugabe and Nicolae Ceausescu[…]
September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivemarked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior
adjectivecharacteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekτύραννος
- Latintyrannicus
- Englishtyrannical
From Latin tyrannicus + -al; ultimately from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) (absolute ruler, despot).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek τυραννικός, τυραννικός
- τυραννικός (turannikós)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- τυραννικός (turannikós)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Arabic ظَالِم, غَاشِم
- ظَالِم (ẓālim)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- غَاشِم (ḡāšim)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- ظَالِم (ẓālim)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- غَاشِم (ḡāšim)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Catalan tirànic, tirànic
- tirànicof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tirànicdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Czech tyranský
- tyranskýof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
Dutch tiranniek
- tiranniekof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
Esperanto tirana, tirana
- tiranaof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tiranadespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Finnish tyrannimainen, tyrannimainen
- tyrannimainenof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tyrannimainendespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
French tyrannique
- tyranniqueof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
German tyrannisch, tyrannisch
- tyrannischof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tyrannischdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Greek τυραννικός, τυραννικός
- τυραννικός (tyrannikós)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- τυραννικός (tyrannikós)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Hindi अत्याचारी, ज़ालिम
- अत्याचारी (atyācārī)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- ज़ालिम (zālim)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- ज़ुल्मी (zulmī)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- सितमगर (sitamgar)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- जाबिर (jābir)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- नादिरी (nādirī)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- दराज़-दस्त (darāz-dast)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- दमनकारी (damankārī)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- दमनशील (damanśīl)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- जफ़ा-पेशा (jafā-peśā)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Hungarian zsarnoki, kegyetlen
- zsarnokiof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- kegyetlendespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Irish ansmachtúil, aintiarnúil
- ansmachtúilof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- aintiarnúilof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- ansmachtúildespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- aintiarnúildespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- tíorántadespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- anlathachdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Italian tirannico
- tirannicoof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
Japanese 横暴な
- 横暴な (ōbō na)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Latin imperiōsus
- imperiōsusdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Lithuanian tironiškas
- tironiškasof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
Māori ngarengare
- ngarengaredespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Polish tyrański, tyraniczny
- tyrańskiof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tyranicznyof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tyranicznydespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- tyrańskidespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Portuguese tirano, tirânico
- tiranoof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tirânicoof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tiranodespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- tirânicodespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Romanian tiranic, opresiv
- tiranicof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- opresivdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- tiranicdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- despoticdespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Russian тирани́ческий, деспоти́чный
- тирани́ческий (tiraníčeskij)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- деспоти́чный (despotíčnyj)of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- тирани́ческий (tiraníčeskij)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- деспоти́чный (despotíčnyj)despotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Spanish tiránico, tirano
- tiránicoof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tiranoof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
- tiránicodespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- tiranodespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
- de ordeno y mandodespotic, oppressive, authoritarian
Swedish tyrannisk
- tyranniskof, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tyrannical
All rhymes →Cite this entry
tyrannical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannical
“tyrannical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannical. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tyrannical,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannical.
Source: tyrannical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.