tyrannophobia

T1Y4R1A1N1N1O1P3H4O1B3I1A1

noun

An aversion to autocratic leadership; a policy of limiting the power of leaders.

Scrabble 23
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Meanings

nountyrannophobia (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAn aversion to autocratic leadership; a policy of limiting the power of leaders.

    Although tyrannophilia (D. Pikes) had not yet set in, the traditional tyrannophobia (Thomas Hobbes) had been partially set out of joint.

    2007, Hans Maier, Totalitarianism and Political Religions
    2 more examples

    On the other hand, if tyrannophobia hampers useful grants of power to the executive, it creates social costs, namely and entrenched reluctance to transfer necessary powers to the executive.

    2011, Eric A. Posner, Adrian Vermeule, The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic, →ISBN, page 203

    Indeed, if the aim is to minimize the risk of dictatorship, or just to take optimal precautions against it, tyrannophobia might be counterproductive, for reasons we will discuss.

    2012, Tom Ginsburg, Comparative Constitutional Design, →ISBN, page 329

Origin

From tyranno- + -phobia.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tyrannophobia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannophobia

MLA

“tyrannophobia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannophobia. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tyrannophobia,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tyrannophobia.

Source: tyrannophobia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.