despotic
/dɪˈspɒtɪk
/adjective
Of or typical of a despot; tyrannical: a despotic regime...
- Obeying no law, despotic authority was arbitrary, and its animating spirit was fear.
- Autocratic, theocratic, despotic regimes allow no political freedom, all thought is outlawed, and brute suppression is the norm.
- There is not a grain of evidence that primitive government was despotic and tyrannical.
Synonyms
autocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian, authoritarian, absolute, absolutist, arbitrary, unconstitutional, undemocratic, anti-democratic, uncontrolled, unaccountable, summary;
one-party, single-party, autarchic, monocratic;
tyrannical, oppressive, tyrannous, repressive, harsh, ruthless, merciless, draconian, illiberal;
domineering, imperious, arrogant, high-handed
Derivatives
despotically
/ adverb ...- As an additional benefit, military spending also consumes resources that might otherwise be used to woo our power-base of poverty stricken, powerless, despotically ruled zealots.
- But the despotism in certain dingy and decayed tribes in the twentieth century does not prove that the first men were ruled despotically.
- The famous treason statute of 1352, which had spelt out what was (and by exclusion, was not) treason, appeared not to cover, except by a big leap, what the earl had done in ruling despotically in Ireland.