Standard Lemma guide

authoritarianism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ɔˌθɔːɹɪˈtɛːɹiən.ɪzm̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 TH AO2 R AH0 T EH1 R IY0 AH0 N IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A form of government in which the governing body has absolute, or almost absolute, control. Typically this control is maintained by force, and little heed is paid to public opinion or the judicial system.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: dictatorialism; autocratism; totalitarianism (see usage note there)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dictatorialism, autocratism, totalitarianism

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dictatorship, absolutism, Caesarism, despotism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: autocracy, autarchy

Narrower terms: police state

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2ewg-der. Proto-Indo-European *h2owg-éye-ti Proto-Italic *augejō Proto-Italic *augeō Latin augeō Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Italic *-tōr Latin -tor Latin auctor Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin auctōritāsbor. Old French autoritébor. Middle English auctorite English authority Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusder. Middle English -arie English -ary Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Italic *-nos Latin -nus Latin -ānus Old French -ainder. Middle English -an English -an English -arian English authoritarian Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English authoritarianism From authoritarian + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: autoritarizëm — authoritarian form of government
  • Arabic: سُلْطَوِيَّة (sulṭawiyya) — authoritarian form of government
  • Armenian: ավտորիտարիզմ (avtoritarizm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Azerbaijani: avtoritarizm — authoritarian form of government
  • Belarusian: аўтарытары́зм (awtarytarýzm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Bulgarian: авторитари́зъм (avtoritarízǎm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Catalan: autoritarisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Chinese Cantonese: 威權主義 /威权主义 (wai1 kyun4 zyu2 ji6) — authoritarian form of government
  • Chinese Mandarin: 威權主義 /威权主义 (wēiquán zhǔyì) — authoritarian form of government
  • Czech: autoritářství — authoritarian form of government
  • Dutch: autoritarisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Estonian: autoritarism — authoritarian form of government
  • Finnish: autoritarismi — authoritarian form of government
  • French: autoritarisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Galician: autoritarismo — authoritarian form of government
  • Georgian: ავტორიტარიზმი (avṭoriṭarizmi) — authoritarian form of government
  • German: Autoritarismus — authoritarian form of government
  • Hebrew: סַמְכוּתָנוּת (samkhutanút) — authoritarian form of government
  • Hindi: सत्तावाद (sattāvād) — authoritarian form of government
  • Hungarian: autoritarizmus — authoritarian form of government
  • Indonesian: otoritarianisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Indonesian: otoriterisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Italian: autoritarismo — authoritarian form of government
  • Japanese: 権威主義 (ken'ishugi) — authoritarian form of government
  • Kazakh: авторитаризм (avtoritarizm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Khmer: អាជ្ញានិយម (ʼaacñaaniʼyum) — authoritarian form of government
  • Korean: 권위주의 (gwonwijuui) — authoritarian form of government
  • Kyrgyz: авторитаризм (avtoritarizm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Latvian: autoritārisms — authoritarian form of government
  • Lithuanian: autoritarizmas — authoritarian form of government
  • Macedonian: авторитари́зам (avtoritarízam) — authoritarian form of government
  • Malay: autoritarianisme — authoritarian form of government
  • Marathi: अधिकारशाही (adhikārśāhī) — authoritarian form of government
  • Persian: اقتدارگرایی (eqtedârgarâyi) — authoritarian form of government
  • Polish: autorytaryzm — authoritarian form of government
  • Portuguese: autoritarismo — authoritarian form of government
  • Romanian: autoritarism — authoritarian form of government
  • Russian: авторитари́зм (avtoritarízm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Serbo-Croatian: ауторитаризам — authoritarian form of government
  • Serbo-Croatian: autoritarizam — authoritarian form of government
  • Slovak: autoritarizmus — authoritarian form of government
  • Slovene: avtoritarizem — authoritarian form of government
  • Spanish: autoritarismo — authoritarian form of government
  • Swedish: auktoritarism — authoritarian form of government
  • Tajik: иқтидоргароӣ (iqtidorgaroyi) — authoritarian form of government
  • Tajik: авторитаризм (avtoritarizm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Thai: ลัทธิอํานาจนิยม (lát-tí am-nâat ní-yom) — authoritarian form of government
  • Turkish: otoriteryanizm — authoritarian form of government
  • Turkmen: awtoritarizm — authoritarian form of government
  • Ukrainian: авторитари́зм (avtorytarýzm) — authoritarian form of government
  • Uzbek: avtoritarizm — authoritarian form of government
  • Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa chuyên chế — authoritarian form of government
Real reading context

authoritarianism in complete knowledge articles