as in tyrant
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the dictator had a fierce stranglehold on the country, keeping its people in poverty and ignorance
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Recent Examples of dictator
Satellite imagery captured what remained of a mangled 5,000-ton North Korean naval destroyer damaged during its launch ceremony this week, leaving the country's dictator distraught.
—
Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 24 May 2025
After the dictator fell, it was made Paraguay’s official language, along with Spanish.
—Graciela Mochkofsky, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Romania’s communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989.
—Reuters, NBC news, 19 May 2025
For instance, during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, the head of intelligence, Johnny Abbes, was plucked from obscurity in Mexico and in 1958 began to lead the dictator’s repression machine.
—Erica Frantz, The Conversation, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictator
Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 24 May 2025
After the dictator fell, it was made Paraguay’s official language, along with Spanish.
—Graciela Mochkofsky, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
Romania’s communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989.
—Reuters, NBC news, 19 May 2025
For instance, during Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961, the head of intelligence, Johnny Abbes, was plucked from obscurity in Mexico and in 1958 began to lead the dictator’s repression machine.
—Erica Frantz, The Conversation, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for dictator
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictator
tyrant
Noun
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The Russian tyrant has now cost his country hundreds of thousands of lives and huge portions of its military capability.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
3 June 2025
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Never mind that the Dodgers have been a rip-roaring success on the Golden Coast and that O’Malley was forced into a corner by a New York City tyrant named Robert Moses.—
Steve Silverman,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dictator.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictator. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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