as in ruler
one who rules over a people with a sole, supreme, and usually hereditary authority
European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God
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Recent Examples of autocrat
Experts say Xi’s purge of a longtime acolyte points to a familiar dilemma for autocrats, including his predecessor Mao Zedong: after eliminating political rivals, the supreme leader never stops looking for new threats to their absolute hold on power – including from their own close circle.
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Nectar Gan, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024
Across the Middle East and North Africa, many revolutions have overthrown autocrats, only for those countries to descend back into chaos or a more oppressive rule.
—NPR, 13 Dec. 2024
Reinforcing this are the very different cultures across the BRICS countries, and the risk to their project that relations between them depend on individual autocrats rather than institutions or peoples.
—Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
Further, America’s adversaries—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—are collaborating more closely than ever in an axis of autocrats which enable them to combine strengths in their collective goal of weakening the United States.
—Michael Brown, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for autocrat 
Nectar Gan, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024
Across the Middle East and North Africa, many revolutions have overthrown autocrats, only for those countries to descend back into chaos or a more oppressive rule.
—NPR, 13 Dec. 2024
Reinforcing this are the very different cultures across the BRICS countries, and the risk to their project that relations between them depend on individual autocrats rather than institutions or peoples.
—Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 25 Oct. 2024
Further, America’s adversaries—China, Russia, Iran and North Korea—are collaborating more closely than ever in an axis of autocrats which enable them to combine strengths in their collective goal of weakening the United States.
—Michael Brown, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for autocrat
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Cite this Entry
“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/autocrat. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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