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.
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as in authoritarian
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Recent Examples of totalitarian
Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
In response, research programs investigating the slippage of democracy and increases in totalitarian governance are increasing not only in psychology but in adjacent fields such as public policy, political science, sociology and philosophy.
—Laura Niemi, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 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
Young Army was established two years after the 2014 annexation of Crimea, when Putin’s Kremlin had already begun its totalitarian turn.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2024
In response, research programs investigating the slippage of democracy and increases in totalitarian governance are increasing not only in psychology but in adjacent fields such as public policy, political science, sociology and philosophy.
—Laura Niemi, Scientific American, 26 Sep. 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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By that logic, the Union is the oppressive force, and her movement is the real resistance.Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
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Debuting in 2014, Watch Dogs is an action-adventure game immersing players in the world of skilled hackers who use technology to combat oppressive forces controlling major cities across the world.Matt Grobar, Deadline, 13 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Expect plenty of hot takes, including a barrage of think pieces, seeing as, in this telling, the Wizard is an authoritarian leader using scapegoating to prey on — and stoke — people’s fears.Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 19 Nov. 2024
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Yet, according to a February study by the Pew Research Center, 32% of Americans believe a military regime or an authoritarian leader would be a better way of governing the country.Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 13 Nov. 2024
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
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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
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The public can’t handle the truth Recent political shows have settled into a mode that suggests the proletariat is, well, dumb — think of how The Regime depicts the populace of its unnamed country cheering for Kate Winslet’s mustard-fetishizing autocrat.Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024
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This shock-the-monkey approach might have a sliver of merit if the U.S. economy were self-sufficient in renewables and if the autocrats weren’t poised to capitalize by filling the vacuum with their far more carbon-intensive oil and gas and less environmentally friendly refining techniques.Dan Ikenson, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Trump’s critics often accuse him of being or aspiring to be a strongman, or an autocrat, or even a fascist dictator.Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2024
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One in five Americans think Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany, did some good things, a new survey has found.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Harris says U.S. foreign policy should be based on strong alliances with other democracies, not cynical partnerships with tyrants like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2024
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The greatest of all tyrants thunders onto screen in this thrilling story of fossil discovery by three young boys.Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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