absolutism

[ ab-suh-loo-tiz-uhm ]

noun

1. the principle or the exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government.

   Synonyms: totalitarianism

2. any theory holding that values, principles, etc., are absolute and not relative, dependent, or changeable.

absolutism

/ ˈæbsəluːˌtɪzəm /

noun

1. the principle or practice of a political system in which unrestricted power is vested in a monarch, dictator, etc; despotism
2. philosophy
   1. any theory which holds that truth or moral or aesthetic value is absolute and universal and not relative to individual or social differences Compare relativism
   2. the doctrine that reality is unitary and unchanging and that change and diversity are mere illusion See also monism pluralism
3. Christianity an uncompromising form of the doctrine of predestination

Derived Forms

• ˈabsoˌlutist, nounadjective

Other Words From

• abso·lutist noun adjective
• abso·lu·tistic adjective
• abso·lu·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• non·abso·lutist noun
• nonab·so·lu·tistic adjective
• nonab·so·lu·tisti·cal·ly adverb
• pro·abso·lutism noun
• pro·abso·lutist adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of absolutism¹

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

Not driven by ideology or absolutism, Sean is a leader who prizes progressive pragmatism and believes a government that reflects the diversity of America will perform best for its people.

From Washington Blade

Additional foundational principles of militia constitutionalism include absolutism.

From No Straight News

The Russian Revolution summed everything up in an instant: in place of dynastic rule, absolutism of a different kind.

From The Daily Beast

The play-to-the-base impulse is girded by a righteous certainty that can lead to at best impracticality and at worst absolutism.

From The Daily Beast

What are some great works of literature that you admire for their ability to combat dictatorship and absolutism?

From The Daily Beast

We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.

From The Daily Beast

This is self-government committing economic suicide, putting ideological absolutism ahead of solving problems.

From The Daily Beast

The patriotism of the Japanese is blind and unswerving loyalty to what is practically an absolutism.

From Project Gutenberg

The King wished to save them, for he knew that they were the best supporters of the throne of absolutism.

From Project Gutenberg

Having felt God, God became for him a necessity: more so even, an essential—an absolutism which banished all else from his mind.

From Project Gutenberg

When the royalist gentry went down before Cromwell's Ironsides, absolutism received its death-wound.

From Project Gutenberg

The history of English Absolutism distinctly bears out these anticipations.

From Project Gutenberg