despotism
noun/ˈdɛspətɪzəm/
Etymology From French despotisme; equivalent to despot + -ism.
1
Government by a despot or despots: rule by a singular authority, either a single person or a tight-knit group, which rules with absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.
- The iron hand of despotism has quenched the last spark of liberty; hunted down like a wild beast, I am watching an opportunity to fly my degraded and enslaved country.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 136:
- But now events have proved that I was right because Khrushchev's grandchildren do live in freedom and the great question of our time: can they continue to live in freedom, or will they revert to the old, or a new despotism?1992 March 30, Richard Nixon, 4:50 from the start, in Richard Nixon on "Inside Washington", Richard Nixon Foundation, retrieved 25 May 2020:
- Synonyms
- absolutism, autocracy, dictatorship, tyranny
- Derived terms
- enlightened despotism