despot
a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat.
any tyrant or oppressor.
History/Historical. an honorary title applied to a Byzantine emperor, afterward to members of his family, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors.
Origin of despot
1Words Nearby despot
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use despot in a sentence
He discusses the abolition of slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and the women’s rights movement as evidence of how important it is to continue humanity’s arc of progress before the wrong values get “locked in” by despots.
Inside effective altruism, where the far future counts a lot more than the present | Rebecca Ackermann | October 17, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewWhile the balance sheet here favors the peacemakers — the Gandhis, Kings and Mandelas — the book includes, as it must, despots and demagogues.
An anthology of great speeches, from the inspirational to the ominous | Jeff Shesol | July 9, 2021 | Washington PostThe usurping king is a despot posing as a benefactor, exerting an authoritarian rule and setting the people close to him against each other to prove their loyalty, while his queen turns a blind eye to his increasingly obvious misdeeds.
We have seen it in the rise of other despots around the world.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is delusional, dangerous | Peter Rosenstein | February 4, 2021 | Washington BladeBut Stephen Kotkin's new biography reveals a learned despot who acted cunningly to take advantage of the times.
Kotkin Biography Reveals Stalin's Evil Pragmatism | William O’Connor | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
This is the sort of delusion that sets in when a despot confuses himself with the state after too long in power.
Putin’s Sochi and Hitler’s Berlin: The Love Affair Between Dictators and the Olympic Games. | Garry Kasparov | February 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs the fiery despot, the fine character actor Simmons has never been given a role this juicy, and knocks it out of the park.
‘Whiplash’ Is Sundance’s Hottest Film, A Music-Themed Drama Starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons | Marlow Stern | January 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHundreds have “martyred” themselves fighting Syrian despot Bashar al Assad.
From the start, we see him as he is: a despot and a swindler, a Dallas blue-blood with FBI ties, fleeing a violent past.
This Week’s Hot Reads, July 15, 2013 | Sarah Stodola, Jen Vafidis, Damaris Colhoun | July 15, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTShould not every rational prince perceive that the despot is but an insane man who injures himself?
Superstition In All Ages (1732) | Jean MeslierThe idea of a terrible God who was represented as a despot, must necessarily have rendered His subjects wicked.
Superstition In All Ages (1732) | Jean MeslierThis powerful chieftain was an absolute despot ruling over a tribe of fierce warriors, who knew no will but his.
Robert Moffat | David J. DeaneThere he lay, with his face upon the ground, humbly awaiting the stern despot's permission to move.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge HemyngAt last de B. ran upon "tyrant or despot," which he commuted for "emperor."
British Dictionary definitions for despot
/ (ˈdɛspɒt) /
an absolute or tyrannical ruler; autocrat or tyrant
any person in power who acts tyrannically
a title borne by numerous persons of rank in the later Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires: the despot of Servia
Origin of despot
1Derived forms of despot
- despotic (dɛsˈpɒtɪk) or despotical, adjective
- despotically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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