Word.ws English Dictionary

diktat

/ˈdɪktæt/US/dɪkˈtɑt/

diktat noun: a dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent.

Noun

diktat (countable and uncountable, plural diktats)

  1. A dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent.
    • Whatever the pressures that have invoked the Minister's diktat, the outcome is Gilbertian.1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291
    • Today, regional diktat is now supplemented (though not wholly replaced) by other means of recruiting elites.1982, Steven L. Sampson, The Planners and the Peasants
    Synonyms:
    ukase
  2. (dated) A harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor.
    • Even Hitler's success in capturing the allegiance of the masses was due far more to this programmes of social reform than to his denunciations of the Diktats of Versailles or his belief in an expansionist future for Germany.1948, E L Hasluck, “Nazi Germany Prepares for the War”, in The Second World War, London: Blackie and Son, page 13

Examples of diktat in a sentence

  • It should be noted that Saddam's power was held up by fear and diktat.2005, Vitaly Naumkin, Radical Islam in Central Asia: Between Pen and Rifle, page 179:
  • Trump—according not to the paranoid fears of his opponents, but his own professed desires—would have the government’s law enforcement institutions act as political weapons, aimed by his diktat.2018, Julian Sanchez, “Brand Loyalty”, in Just Security:
  • He added that “the issues are still the same” and that Russian President Putin “still wishes to impose his diktat on Ukraine.”2022 March 30, “It's 1 a.m. on Thursday in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know”, in CNN:
  • To critics, it’s nothing less than a sign of his authoritarian bent – reminiscent of the Stalin-esque playbook that made government diktats over artistic expression a feature of the old Soviet Union.2025 April 17, Linda Feldmann, “How Donald Trump is upending American culture”, in The Christian Science Monitor, archived from the...

Synonyms of diktat

Forms of diktat

pluraldiktats

Origin of diktat

Borrowed from German Diktat, from Latin dictātum (“that which has been dictated”), from the perfect passive participle of dictō (“dictate”). Doublet of dictate. Originally used with reference to Germany's penalties as dictated by the Treaty of Versailles.

Words that rhyme with diktat

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about diktat

What does diktat mean?
Diktat means a dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent.
How do you use diktat in a sentence?
It should be noted that Saddam's power was held up by fear and diktat.
What part of speech is diktat?
Diktat is a noun.
How do you pronounce diktat?
Diktat is pronounced /ˈdɪktæt/ (UK).
What is the plural of diktat?
The plural of diktat is diktats.

Words near diktat in the dictionary

  1. Dikranians
  2. diksha
  3. dikshas
  4. Dikshit
  5. Diksmuide
  6. diktat
  7. diktats
  8. diktyoma
  9. diktyomas
  10. diktyomata
  11. diktyonite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: diktat (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-diktat.wav.

Cite this entry: “diktat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/diktat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.