dictatorship

   Use in a sentence

dic·ta·tor·ship

[dik-tey-ter-ship, dik-tey-]
noun
1.
a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.
2.
absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.
3.
the office or position held by a dictator.
Origin:
1580–90; dictator + -ship

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
dictatorship (dɪkˈteɪtəˌʃɪp) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  the rank, office, or period of rule of a dictator
2.  government by a dictator or dictators
3.  a country ruled by a dictator or dictators
4.  absolute or supreme power or authority

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Dictatorship is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dictatorship
1580s, from dictator + -ship.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

dictatorship definition


Government by a single person or by a junta or other group that is not responsible to the people or their elected representatives.

Note: Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were dictators.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
From the perspective of the people, a known dictatorship with obvious bright
  lines is often preferable to utter chaos.
The problem is to avoid emergency, when dictatorship is inevitable and decent
  people sometimes commit enormities.
It removed a thuggish dictatorship that killed thousands of people a year.
That's the answer to light pollution: a dictatorship.
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