dictatorship
/dɪkˈteɪtəʃɪp
/noun [mass noun]
1Government by a dictator: the effects of forty years of dictatorship...
- Socialists defend the institutions of parliamentary democracy against dictatorship or fascism.
- This is not democracy, it is dictatorship, and it is borderline fascism.
- When I was growing up, I was taught that communism leads to dictatorship and capitalism leads inevitably to democracy.
Synonyms
absolute rule, undemocratic rule, despotism, autocracy;
tyranny, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, absolutism, Fascism;
oppression, suppression, repression, subjugation, domination
1.1 [count noun] A country governed by a dictator.I would think that Socialists would oppose religious dictatorships and monarchies at the drop of a hat....
- Once they came to power they turned to totalitarian dictatorships.
- This was done in many ways, in particular by using pro-Western dictatorships during the Cold War period.
Synonyms
totalitarian state, autocracy, autarchy, monocracy;
dystopia
1.2Absolute authority in any sphere.It is the oppression and the absolute dictatorship and severe corruption which is producing this sort of circumstance....
- That outdated notion seems to have disappeared circa 1979 when Mrs Thatcher swept her elected dictatorship into power.
- What this creates, then, is teacher dominance that borders on dictatorship.