authoritarianism
US/ɔˌθɔːɹɪˈtɛːɹiən.ɪzm̩/
authoritarianism noun: a form of government in which the governing body has absolute, or almost absolute, control. Typically this control is maintained by force, and little heed is paid to public opinion or the judicial system.
Noun
authoritarianism (countable and uncountable, plural authoritarianisms)
- A form of government in which the governing body has absolute, or almost absolute, control. Typically this control is maintained by force, and little heed is paid to public opinion or the judicial system.
- Near-synonyms: dictatorialism; autocratism; totalitarianism (see usage note there)
- But Stalin could not weaken faith and conviction in social justice. Many of the people whose consciousness was not totally sullied with the litter of cult trash maintained an acute dislike of the authoritarianism that was instilled deep within them. At the same time they could not find suitable way...1989 July 6 [1988 December], Dmitriy Volkogonov, anonymous quotee, “Triumph and Tragedy: A Portrait of I.V. Stalin”, in JPRS Report: Soviet Union, number 043, Foreign Broadcast Information Service...
- Synonyms:
- dictatorialism, autocratism, totalitarianism
authoritarianism meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
authoritarianism in Hindi
- authoritarian form of government
- सत्तावाद sattāvād
authoritarianism in Marathi
- authoritarian form of government
- अधिकारशाही adhikārśāhī
authoritarianism in Urdu
- آمریت پسندی, استبدادیت
authoritarianism in Bengali
- কর্তৃত্ববাদ
More languagesFewer languages
- authoritarianism in Arabic
- سُلْطَوِيَّة sulṭawiyya
- authoritarianism in Malay
- autoritarianisme
- authoritarianism in Indonesian
- otoritarianisme, otoriterisme
- authoritarianism in Persian
- اقتدارگرایی eqtedârgarâyi
- authoritarianism in Thai
- ลัทธิอำนาจนิยม lát-tí am-nâat ní-yom
- authoritarianism in Vietnamese
- chủ nghĩa chuyên chế
Examples of authoritarianism in a sentence
- Many of the people whose consciousness was not totally sullied with the litter of cult trash maintained an acute dislike of the authoritarianism that was instilled deep within them.1989 July 6 [1988 December], Dmitriy Volkogonov, anonymous quotee, “Triumph and Tragedy: A Portrait of I.V. Stalin”, in JPRS Report: Soviet...
- The forces of freedom, openness and global community against the forces of authoritarianism, isolationism and nationalism.2017 May 25, Mark Zuckerberg, “Mark Zuckerberg’s Commencement address at Harvard”, in The Harvard Gazette, archived from the original on 10...
- Working from a psycho-dynamic perspective, Fromm explained authoritarianism as a response to the breakdown of traditional social structures brought about by industrialization and modernization.2021, Stanley Feldman, Vittorio Mérola, and Justin Dollman, “THE PSYCHOLOGY OF AUTHORITARIANISM AND SUPPORT FOR ILLIBERAL POLICIES AND...
- Trump in ways that, to critics, raise the specter of authoritarianism.2025 February 25, Linda Feldmann, “How Trump skirts checks and balances unlike any modern-day US president”, in The Christian Science...
Synonyms of authoritarianism
Forms of authoritarianism
| plural | authoritarianisms |
|---|
Origin of authoritarianism
From authoritarian + -ism.
Words formed from authoritarianism
Questions about authoritarianism
- What does authoritarianism mean?
- Authoritarianism means a form of government in which the governing body has absolute, or almost absolute, control. Typically this control is maintained by force, and little heed is paid to public opinion or the judicial system.
- What is authoritarianism in Hindi?
- Authoritarianism in Hindi is सत्तावाद (sattāvād). See Authoritarianism meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use authoritarianism in a sentence?
- Many of the people whose consciousness was not totally sullied with the litter of cult trash maintained an acute dislike of the authoritarianism that was instilled deep within them.
- What part of speech is authoritarianism?
- Authoritarianism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce authoritarianism?
- Authoritarianism is pronounced /ɔˌθɔːɹɪˈtɛːɹiən.ɪzm̩/ (US).
- What is the plural of authoritarianism?
- The plural of authoritarianism is authoritarianisms.
Words near authoritarianism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: authoritarianism (page history and authors); authoritarianism (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); authoritarianism (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-authoritarianism.wav.
Cite this entry: “authoritarianism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/authoritarianism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.