as in oppressive
controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed
A totalitarian state that did not even allow outsiders to visit.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in authoritarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 Jan. 2025
From the first Ba'athist coup, in 1963, Syria became a totalitarian one-party state.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 22 Dec. 2024
Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See all Example Sentences for totalitarian 
Adjective
The world has become a series of separate totalitarian quarantine zones and independent settlements, with a thriving black market and a rebel militia known as the Fireflies making life complicated for the survivors.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 Jan. 2025
From the first Ba'athist coup, in 1963, Syria became a totalitarian one-party state.
—The Week Uk, theweek, 22 Dec. 2024
Noun
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See all Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
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Jimmy Garoppolo profited from exposure to 49ers’ system The Commanders, thankfully shorn of the oppressive incompetence of former owner Daniel Snyder, were remade in a year by G.M. Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn.—
Jerry McDonald,
The Mercury News,
21 Jan. 2025
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The book, taking the form of a fable told in short, single paragraphs, scattershot swatches of wisdom, aphorisms and illustrations, has long been a manual for how to practice togetherness in the face of extreme, oppressive opposition.—
Mathew Rodriguez,
Them,
20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In this paradigm, the ideal worker is less like a corporate ally or a trusted collaborator and more like a subject of an authoritarian regime.—
Anna Wiener,
The New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2025
-
Over the past decade, during which the authoritarian Law and Justice party has ruled in Poland, the Centre has served as a staunch defender of independent research.—
Natalia Romik / Madę by History,
TIME,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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A number of sports potentates will be making the Idaho scene, at a moment when tens of billions of dollars are changing hands in pursuit of ever-valuable rights.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
10 July 2024
-
By cracking the whip on local potentates, the party bolsters its already substantial public support and reinforces the power of central institutions.—
Dali Yang,
Foreign Affairs,
13 June 2017
Noun
-
Aspiring autocrats in other countries have also made life difficult for universities.—
Nathaniel Rakich,
ABC News,
21 Jan. 2025
-
Once shunned by his fellow Arab autocrats, Bashar al-Assad was gradually regaining the dubious respectability Arab regimes afford one another.—
Ben Wedeman,
CNN,
30 Nov. 2024
Noun
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His fervor against communism, which was gaining a foothold in nearby Cuba, made the ruthless dictator and his son U.S. allies.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
26 Jan. 2025
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In fact, past experience as a brutal dictator seems to be an important qualification, as both Khan Noonien Singh and Philippa Georgiou have made it past Section 31's vetting procedures.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Be realistic, however: Talk such as Trump’s could be very useful to those expansionist, rapacious tyrants.—
Jay Nordlinger,
National Review,
15 Jan. 2025
-
Sharon Stone plays a gunfighter who ends up in a town called Redemption, ruled with iron fist by a tyrant played by Gene Hackman.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
6 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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