as in tyrants
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the dictator had a fierce stranglehold on the country, keeping its people in poverty and ignorance
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Recent Examples of dictators
This is what dictators do, not American presidents.
—
Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
Coup-proofing is an art, and many dictators now spend a great deal of effort making sure that their own generals will not attempt to overthrow them.
—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.
—Rachel Scott, ABC News, 3 Jan. 2026
The subject of the book was dictators.
—Jake Offenhartz, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
Every culture relates it to its own dictators.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 9 Nov. 2025
Since then, it has been linked to financial deals for dictators Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein, Islamic terrorist groups and government intelligence agencies including the CIA.
—Deena Sabry, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
America preached democracy while supporting some of the most brutal dictators in the region.
—Shadi Hamid, Time, 3 Nov. 2025
The author understood how power works, and the lengths that people, classes, political parties and dictators would go to keep it.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dictators
tyrants
Noun
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After more than a century of plunder and strife, under tyrants as diverse as King Leopold II of Belgium and Mobutu Sese Seko, the present-day DRC still occupies the dark heart of the continent in much of the world’s imagination.—
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The rule of law that once distinguished American power from the impunity of tyrants has been deliberately dismantled, one opinion at a time.—
Cite this Entry
“Dictators.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dictators. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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