totalitarian

[ toh-tal-i-tair-ee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to a centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life.
2. exercising control over the freedom, will, or thought of others; authoritarian; autocratic.

noun

1. an adherent of totalitarianism.

totalitarian

/ təʊˌtælɪˈtɛərɪən /

adjective

1. of, denoting, relating to, or characteristic of a dictatorial one-party state that regulates every realm of life

noun

1. a person who advocates or practises totalitarian policies

Derived Forms

• toˌtaliˈtarianism, noun

Other Words From

• anti·to·tali·tari·an adjective
• nonto·tali·tari·an adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of totalitarian¹

First recorded in 1925–30; totalit(y) + -arian

Word History and Origins

Origin of totalitarian¹

from totality + -arian

Example Sentences

The fellow-traveler organizations surround the totalitarian movements with a mist of normality and respectability that fools the membership about the true character of the outside world as much as it does the outside world about the true character of the movement.

From Salon

The world at large ... usually gets its first glimpse of a totalitarian movement through its front organizations.

From Salon

The sympathizers, who are to all appearances still innocuous fellow-citizens in a nontotalitarian society, can hardly be called single-minded fanatics; through them, the movements make their fantastic lies more generally acceptable, can spread their propaganda in milder, more respectable forms, until the whole atmosphere is poisoned with totalitarian elements which are hardly recognizable as such but appear to be normal political reactions or opinions.

From Salon

The front organization functions both ways: as the facade of the totalitarian movement to the nontotalitarian world, and as the facade of this world to the inner hierarchy of the movement.

From Salon

Written in 1985, "The Handmaid's Tale" presents a totalitarian society known as Gilead in which fertile women are enslaved and sexually assaulted in order to bear children for the ruling class.

From Salon

Related Words

• authoritarian
• autocratic
• monolithic
• oppressive
• tyrannical