[toh-tal-i-tair-ee-uh-niz-uh
m] 
| 1. | the practices and principles of a totalitarian regime. |
| 2. | absolute control by the state or a governing branch of a highly centralized institution. |
| 3. | the character or quality of an autocratic or authoritarian individual, group, or government: the totalitarianism of the father. |
| 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. |