[toh-tal-i-tair-ee-uh
n] 
| 1. | of or pertaining 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. |
| 3. | an adherent of totalitarianism. |
| to·tal·i·tar·i·an (tō-tāl'ĭ-târ'ē-ən) adj. Of, relating to, being, or imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed: "A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul" (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.) n. A practitioner or supporter of such a government. [total + (author)itarian.] to·tal'i·tar'i·an·ism n. |