Standard Lemma guide

despotism

noun · 3 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.

  • /ˈdɛspətɪzəm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH1 S P AH0 T IH2 Z AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

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, authoritarianism, Caesarism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: autocracy, autarchy

Narrower terms: police state

3

noun

Meaning 3

dominance through threat of punishment and violence

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: absolutism, tyranny

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dominance, ascendance, ascendence, ascendancy, ascendency, control

History

Etymology

From French despotisme; equivalent to despot + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

89 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: despotizëm — government by a singular authority
  • Arabic: اِسْتِبْدَاد (istibdād) — government by a singular authority
  • Arabic: ظُلْم (ẓulm) — government by a singular authority
  • Armenian: բռնապետություն (bṙnapetutʻyun) — government by a singular authority
  • Armenian: բռնակալություն (bṙnakalutʻyun) — government by a singular authority
  • Asturian: despotismu — government by a singular authority
  • Azerbaijani: despotizm — government by a singular authority
  • Azerbaijani: zülm — government by a singular authority
  • Azerbaijani: istibdad — government by a singular authority
  • Basque: despotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Belarusian: дэспаты́зм (despatýzm) — government by a singular authority
  • Bulgarian: деспоти́зъм (despotízǎm) — government by a singular authority
  • Catalan: despotisme — government by a singular authority
  • Chinese Cantonese: 專制政體 /专制政体 — government by a singular authority
  • Chinese Mandarin: 專制 /专制 (zhuānzhì) — government by a singular authority
  • Chinese Mandarin: 專制主義 /专制主义 (zhuānzhìzhǔyì) — government by a singular authority
  • Chinese Mandarin: 獨裁 /独裁 (dúcái) — government by a singular authority
  • Chinese Mandarin: 暴政 (bàozhèng) — government by a singular authority
  • Czech: despotismus — government by a singular authority
  • Czech: despocie — government by a singular authority
  • Danish: despoti — government by a singular authority
  • Dutch: despotisme — government by a singular authority
  • Esperanto: despotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Estonian: despotism — government by a singular authority
  • Finnish: itsevaltius — government by a singular authority
  • French: despotisme — government by a singular authority
  • Galician: despotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Georgian: დესპოტიზმი (desṗoṭizmi) — government by a singular authority
  • German: Despotie — government by a singular authority
  • German: Despotismus — government by a singular authority
  • German: Willkürherrschaft — government by a singular authority
  • Greek: δεσποτισμός (despotismós) — government by a singular authority
  • Hebrew: רוֹדָנוּת (rodanút) — government by a singular authority
  • Hindi: तानाशाही (tānāśāhī) — government by a singular authority
  • Hindi: स्वेच्छाचारिता (svecchācāritā) — government by a singular authority
  • Hungarian: despotizmus — government by a singular authority
  • Icelandic: harðstjórn — government by a singular authority
  • Ido: despoteso — government by a singular authority
  • Indonesian: despotisme — government by a singular authority
  • Indonesian: istibdad — government by a singular authority
  • Irish: forlámhas — government by a singular authority
  • Irish: smachtúlacht — government by a singular authority
  • Irish: tíorántacht — government by a singular authority
  • Italian: dispotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Japanese: 専制 (sensei) — government by a singular authority
  • Japanese: 独裁主義 (dokusaishugi) — government by a singular authority
  • Japanese: 独裁 (dokusai) — government by a singular authority
  • Japanese: 暴政 (bōsei) — government by a singular authority
  • Kazakh: деспотизм (despotizm) — government by a singular authority
  • Korean: 전제 (jeonje) — government by a singular authority
  • Korean: 독재 (dokjae) — government by a singular authority
  • Korean: 폭정 (pokjeong) — government by a singular authority
  • Northern Kurdish: istibdad — government by a singular authority
  • Latin: despotismus — government by a singular authority
  • Latvian: despotisms — government by a singular authority
  • Lithuanian: despotizmas — government by a singular authority
  • Macedonian: деспоти́зам (despotízam) — government by a singular authority
  • Malay: despotisme — government by a singular authority
  • Mingrelian: დესპოტიზმი (desṗoṭizmi) — government by a singular authority
  • Norwegian Bokmål: despoti — government by a singular authority
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: despoti — government by a singular authority
  • Persian: استبداد (estebdâd) — government by a singular authority
  • Persian: ظلم (zolm) — government by a singular authority
  • Polish: despotyzm — government by a singular authority
  • Portuguese: despotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Punjabi: ਧੱਕੇਸ਼ਾਹੀ (dhakkeśāhī) — government by a singular authority
  • Romanian: despotism — government by a singular authority
  • Russian: деспоти́зм (despotízm) — government by a singular authority
  • Russian: произво́л (proizvól) — government by a singular authority
  • Russian: деспоти́я (despotíja) — government by a singular authority
  • Serbo-Croatian: деспотѝзам — government by a singular authority
  • Serbo-Croatian: despotìzam — government by a singular authority
  • Slovak: despotizmus — government by a singular authority
  • Slovene: despotizem — government by a singular authority
  • Spanish: despotismo — government by a singular authority
  • Swedish: despoti — government by a singular authority
  • Swedish: despotism — government by a singular authority
  • Tajik: истибдод (istibdod) — government by a singular authority
  • Tajik: зулм (zulm) — government by a singular authority
  • Thai: ระบบใช้อํานาจเด็ดขาด (rá-bòp chái am-nâat dèt kàat) — government by a singular authority
  • Turkish: despotizm — government by a singular authority
  • Turkish: istibdat — government by a singular authority
  • Ottoman Turkish: ظلم (zulm, zulüm) — government by a singular authority
  • Ukrainian: деспоти́зм (despotýzm) — government by a singular authority
  • Urdu: اِسْتِبْدَاد (istibdād) — government by a singular authority
  • Uzbek: despotiya — government by a singular authority
  • Uzbek: istibdod — government by a singular authority
  • Uzbek: zulm — government by a singular authority
  • Volapük: däspot — government by a singular authority