1
as in authoritarian
exercising power or authority without interference by others
a dictatorial leader with total control over people's lives
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in domineering
fond of ordering people around
no surprise that the dictatorial manager is highly unpopular among employees
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in arbitrary
having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity
even the teachers chafed under the dictatorial rule of the principal
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dictatorial
The film is at its best building tension and showing us just how anxious life is under dictatorial rule.
—
Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
The judge was absolutely incredulous about the contractual argument and the independent, dictatorial authority of the president.
—Liz Crawford, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2026
Rubio has been carrying out dictatorial measures at home.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2026
Sharp’s work has been used as an essential guide for democracy activists under dictatorial regimes in countries such as Serbia, Burma, and Iran.
—George Packer, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorial
Los Angeles Times, 9 Mar. 2026
The judge was absolutely incredulous about the contractual argument and the independent, dictatorial authority of the president.
—Liz Crawford, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2026
Rubio has been carrying out dictatorial measures at home.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2026
Sharp’s work has been used as an essential guide for democracy activists under dictatorial regimes in countries such as Serbia, Burma, and Iran.
—George Packer, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dictatorial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictatorial
Adjective
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Advertisement The orthodox and authoritarian left in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela has, in many ways, sabotaged and delayed the renewal of the Latin American left.—
Carlos Manuel Alvarez,
Time,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Snow’s life’s work has been sustaining a Hobbesian authoritarian government.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The new biopic of Jackson from director Antoine Fuqua and the Jackson estate paints the gloved one as the one true victim — a harmless Peter Pan figure whose own childhood was snatched away by a domineering father.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
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Joseph has a cruel and domineering air about him.—
Paul A. Thompson,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The fundamental processes governing brain health — genetics, neural and synaptic plasticity, and neuroinflammation — do not respect the arbitrary boundaries drawn between neurology and psychiatry.—
Eric J. Nestler,
STAT,
28 Apr. 2026
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White-Jacket did cause a stir with its discussion of the arbitrary and cruel use of flogging in the US Navy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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An especially visually striking debut, Mosquitoes exists in a saturated hyperreality that is consummately engrossing, and announces the Bertani sisters as formidable portraitists of girlhood cast against the backdrop of an alternately beautiful and oppressive world.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
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Snakes, freeways, difficult men and Didion’s quiet brutality hang in the air like the oppressive heat of this unusually warm spring day.—
Maddie Connors,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The series has devolved into a hysteria that the young and arrogant Timberwolves feed on since that first quarter of Game 2.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
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However, many thought Tilson Thomas too brash and arrogant to lead an orchestra, and, around the same time, Tilson Thomas fell in with New York’s disco-hopping crowd.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The authority’s popularity has been weakened by corruption and autocratic rule, its failure to establish an independent state while Israel expands West Bank settlements, and divisions with Hamas.—
Sam Metz,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The country was once very free online, remarkable given President Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule, but more recently access to global messaging apps has been restricted and the internet has been completely shut down at times as Moscow has sought to silence criticism.—
Semafor Events,
semafor.com,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Hard to Be a God is about a planet that has not been allowed to advance beyond the Middle Ages, and descended into a filthy, despotic, and violent world.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
14 Apr. 2026
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Remarkably, among the foremost critics of Cuba’s single-party despotic rule is one of Castro’s own daughters, Alina Fernández Revuelta.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Beyond blood, these women are tied together by destiny and the decisions of the violent and tyrannical men surrounding them.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
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All the orchestration and glamour of the rally, the glory of the Leader, was meant to tell a story—of a nation wounded from within, of a fifth column, of tyrannical foreign countries, of an economic crisis, and of a grandiose account of renewal and coming greatness.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dictatorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictatorial. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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