How to Use despot in a Sentence

despot

noun
  • The company is run by a benevolent despot.
  • He was a successful basketball coach, but many people regarded him as a petty despot.
  • Go back to Machiavelli and The Prince, and the idea of the benign despot.
    — Thomas Barrie, A-LIST, 9 Apr. 2018
  • The despot’s foul play was apparent off the pitch, too.
    — The Economist, 11 June 2020
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — Sarah Gray, Fortune, 17 Jan. 2018
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — NBC News, 17 Jan. 2018
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — Sarah Gray, Fortune, 17 Jan. 2018
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — NBC News, 17 Jan. 2018
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — Sarah Gray, Fortune, 17 Jan. 2018
  • The free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Esquire, 15 Jan. 2018
  • Vladimir Putin, the cunning despot and former KGB agent,...
    — Gregg Opelka, WSJ, 7 May 2019
  • On the non-reformist side, the things that have led people to call him a brutal despot.
    — CBS News, 14 Oct. 2020
  • In 2011 mass protests led to the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, a dreary despot.
    — The Economist, 22 Mar. 2018
  • Daly is a despot in the game, and the woman who saves the day happens to be played by Milioti herself.
    — Rodney Ho, ajc, 29 Mar. 2021
  • On the contrary, after three meetings the despot is a firm buddy.
    — The Economist, 4 July 2019
  • Stalin was a man of gulags and firing squads, a poster villain for the dangers posed by despots.
    — Jeffrey Fleishman, latimes.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • The archive painstakingly preserves a George who is more than a despot or a madman.
    — Sara Georgini, Smithsonian, 30 Jan. 2017
  • The archive painstakingly preserves a George who is more than a despot or a madman.
    — Sara Georgini, Smithsonian, 30 Jan. 2017
  • On the one hand, Putin cannot allow a despot to be overthrown in his sphere of influence, lest Russians be inspired to do the same.
    — Abraham Mahshie, Washington Examiner, 30 Sep. 2020
  • This is from January 2022: Kara-Murza is not one who thinks that Russia is destined to be ruled by despots.
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 15 Sep. 2023
  • In the strength column, the move puts new teeth behind the EU’s earlier measures to distance itself from the regime of despot Nicolás Maduro.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 7 Feb. 2019
  • And the young despot does not weather embarrassment well.
    — Charlie Campbell, Time, 1 Feb. 2018
  • Two are flotsam from the former Soviet Union, the despots of Belarus and Turkmenistan.
    — The Economist, 8 Apr. 2020
  • But in 2011 the Arab spring erupted, and Arab despots responded by muzzling their critics.
    — The Economist, 20 July 2017
  • Indeed, the world's eyes have been opened to a despot's perverse plot to crush a sovereign nation every step of the muddied way.
    — Carrie Cordero, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022
  • Their social media platforms can change the course of despots and democracies.
    — Dave Lieber, Dallas News, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Maguire envisioned a dystopian Oz where the Wizard is a fascist despot.
    — Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Nov. 2024
  • Facebook, clearly, is a tool for despots and the opposition.
    — Alex Shephard, New Republic, 26 Jan. 2018
  • His pain pours out, like a long cry from Syria’s dungeons, a cry that was silenced during more than half a century of rule by brutal despots, Bashar al-Assad, and his father, Hafez, before him.
    — Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Our foundational document, held and displayed in the National Archives building on the National Mall, insists that all men are created equal and rails against the tyranny of despots and kings.
    — Elaine Weiss, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'despot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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