autocracy

[ aw-tok-ruh-see ]
See synonyms for autocracy on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural au·toc·ra·cies.
  1. government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch.

  2. a nation, state, or community ruled by an autocrat.

  1. unlimited authority, power, or influence of one person in any group.

Origin of autocracy

1
First recorded in1645–55; from Greek autokráteia “power over oneself, sole power,” from autokrat(ḗs) autocrat + -eia -ia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use autocracy in a sentence

  • Autocracies have a natural tendency to combine forces against revolutionary movements.

    Bolshevism | John Spargo
  • I have previously called your attention to the social and business powers, monopolies, autocracies, exercised by the leaders.

  • True, but republics have been inefficient, just as often, and in as great a degree as autocracies have.

    Invention | Bradley A. Fiske

British Dictionary definitions for autocracy

autocracy

/ (ɔːˈtɒkrəsɪ) /


nounplural -cies
  1. government by an individual with unrestricted authority

  2. the unrestricted authority of such an individual

  1. a country, society, etc, ruled by an autocrat

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

Cultural definitions for autocracy

autocracy

[ (aw-tok-ruh-see) ]


A system of government in which supreme political power is held by one person. (Compare constitutional monarchy, democracy, and oligarchy.)

Notes for autocracy

Iraq under Saddam Hussein is an autocracy.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.