authoritarianau‧thor‧i‧tar‧i‧an /ɔːˌθɒrəˈteəriən◂ $ ɒːˌθɑːrəˈter-, əˌθɔː-/ ●○○ adjective 
Examples
an authoritarian government Critics claim his management has become too authoritarian.► see thesaurus at strict—authoritarian noun [countable]—authoritarianism noun [uncountable]
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- an extreme right-wing, authoritarian regime
- His management style has been criticized as authoritarian.
- Many people are now demanding a more democratic and less authoritarian form of government.
- Their father was authoritarian in the home, insisting on total obedience.
- And my excessively tidy and authoritarian behaviour shows that I was striving to be the person the school wanted me to be.
- Citizens are not permitted to question the political institutions, procedures, or value allocations of an authoritarian regime.
- His real style, they believe, is authoritarian and his policies excessively sympathetic to the armed forces.
- It is also authoritarian and hierarchical.
- Once discredited in economic terms, authoritarian regimes tend to lose their grip.
- The concept of authoritarian population implies, for Jessop etal., a monolithic, relatively stable and widely supported form of government.
THESAURUS► strict
Collocations expecting people to obey rules or to do what you say – used especially about parents, teachers, or organizations: · Our teachers were very strict.· Most schools are quite strict about the way students dress.
► firm showing that you are in control of the situation and will not change your opinion, especially when you are telling someone what to do: · You have to be firm with young children.· I’ll be firm with him and tell him he can’t have any more money.
► tough determined that your orders or decisions will be obeyed, especially in order to make sure that a situation improves – used especially when you think that someone is right to be strict: · We need a government that is tough on crime.· She can be quite tough with her students, but they respect her for it.· The chancellor has got to be tough and keep government spending down.
► stern strict in a serious, disapproving, and rather unfriendly way: · Her grandfather was a stern man who rarely smiled.· Sheila walked into the museum, under the stern gaze of the curator.
► harsh punishing or criticizing someone in a way that seems very severe, often too severe: · Don’t be too harsh on her – she’s only a child.· It may seem harsh to punish him, but he has to learn that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.· Her reaction to the child’s bad behaviour was unnecessarily harsh.
► authoritarian disapproving very strict about forcing people to obey rules or laws, and punishing them very severely if they fail to do this – used about people and governments: · Her father was very authoritarian and insisted on total obedience.· an authoritarian government
Longman Language Activatorpeople/organizations► strict someone who is strict makes people obey rules and refuses to let people disobey them - use this especially about parents, teachers, or organizations: · Teachers need to be strict , but also fair.strict with: · I think you're too strict with your children.strict about: · The manager is very strict about people getting to work on time.· Most schools are quite strict about the way students dress.
► firm if you are firm with someone, you tell them that they must accept what you say because you are not going to change it: · Emily was polite but firm - her answer was 'no'.firm with: · You'll just have to be firm with him and tell him he can't have any more money.
► tough informal determined that your orders or decisions will be obeyed, especially in order to make sure a situation or someone's progress improves - use this especially when you think that someone is right to be strict: · The chancellor has got to be tough and keep government spending down.tough on: · We need a government that is tough on crime.tough with: · She's quite tough with her students.
► stern written strict in a serious, disapproving, and unfriendly way: · Her grandfather was a stern man who rarely smiled.· Sheila walked into the museum, under the stern gaze of the curator.
► harsh cruel and not sympathetic in the way that you deal with bad behaviour or mistakes: · It may seem harsh to punish him, but he has to learn that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.· Her reaction to the child's bad behaviour was unnecessarily harsh.
► authoritarian forcing people to obey rules or laws, and punishing them severely if they do not: · Their father was authoritarian in the home, insisting on total obedience.· Many people are now demanding a more democratic and less authoritarian form of government.authoritarian regime: · an extreme right-wing, authoritarian regime
► be a stickler for to demand that people keep strictly to rules, customs etc, especially in a way that people think is unnecessary and old-fashioned: · The caretaker is a real stickler for rules.· My mother was a stickler for cleanliness.
► disciplinarian a very strict person who believes that people should obey rules and orders, and who punishes those who do not: · The store manager was a disciplinarian, but was always fair to his staff.strict disciplinarian: · She was a wonderful teacher, but a strict disciplinarian.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► an authoritarian regime
Word family (=with very strong control)· The post-war authoritarian regimes of eastern Europe have been replaced by democratically elected governments.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► more· A more authoritarian regime could have simply imprisoned the organizers.· Oddly, her outlook was more authoritarian than her chief's.
NOUN► government· What is clear is that current constitutional arrangements do suit an authoritarian government well.· They damned the no-nonsense, authoritarian government, which peremptorily squashed even the smallest perceived threat to social peace.
► regime· There had been some authoritarian regimes that were also populist and had been sustained by votes not repressive force.· A thorough comparison of authoritarian regimes.· It may be easier for an authoritarian regime than for a democratic one to carry out economic restructuring.· It connoted a rational, efficient method of organization-something to take the place of the arbitrary exercise of power by authoritarian regimes.· The temptation simply to continue with presidential rule would be enormous and another authoritarian regime would be born.· Citizens are not permitted to question the political institutions, procedures, or value allocations of an authoritarian regime.· An alliance between workers, peasants and petty bourgeoisie necessitates a bureaucratic authoritarian regime. 2.· Totalitarian regimes, even more than authoritarian regimes, depend upon extensive coercion for their survival.
► rule· Both had been determined to overcome authoritarian rule from Addis Ababa and had worked closely together to achieve this end.· It is a liberal city, home ground to Kim Dae Jung, a longtime leader of opponents of authoritarian rule.· He held the post during Milosevic's authoritarian rule.· It was a radical departure from the past, an interlude of democracy in an otherwise unbroken line of authoritarian rule.· These transitions are likely to differ from recent western transitions from other types of authoritarian rule in a number of key respects.· In either case, the end result was the emergence or a strong centralized state under authoritarian rule.· That civil war has been the rationale for the authoritarian rule Suharto and the military have enforced over the decades.
► state· Even in more authoritarian states public opinion could be a real force.· Britain is not yet an authoritarian state.· As Reich puts it: The reactionary middle-class man perceives himself in the Fuhrer, in the authoritarian state.
WORD FAMILYnounauthorityauthorizationauthoritarianauthoritarianismadjectiveauthoritarianauthoritativeauthorized ≠ unauthorizedverbauthorizeadverbauthoritatively
strictly forcing people to obey a set of rules or laws, especially ones that are wrong or unfair: an authoritarian government Critics claim his management has become too authoritarian.► see thesaurus at strict—authoritarian noun [countable]—authoritarianism noun [uncountable]