autocrat

noun

au·​to·​crat ˈȯ-tə-ˌkrat How to pronounce autocrat (audio)
Synonyms of autocratnext
1
: a person (such as a monarch) ruling with unlimited authority
2
: one who has undisputed influence or power
He was the autocrat of his household.

Synonyms

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of autocrat in a Sentence

European autocrats once commonly believed that they had received the right to rule directly from God.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. —Brian Stelter, CNN, 16 Mar. 2025 As Carol continues her search for Daryl stateside, the scraggly drifter finds himself on the wrong side of French autocrats while protecting a young boy (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) and a nun (Clémence Poésy), who are trying to flee a religious cult that believes the young man is their messiah. —Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 14 Mar. 2025 The question moving forward is whether this overwhelming majority of Americans cares enough about this issue to try to do something about it, to try to slow Trump’s historic pivot of putting America on the side of the autocrats and against the democrats. —Michael McFaul, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2025 Jon Lee Anderson explores the agency’s complex relationship with American empire—and with autocrats everywhere » Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, is travelling to Guantánamo today. —Hannah Jocelyn, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for autocrat

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & Greek; French autocrate, borrowed from Greek autokratḗs "ruling by itself (of a mind), with sole authority (for a task)," from auto- auto- + -kratēs, adjective derivative of kratéō, krateîn "to be strong or powerful, have command, rule," derivative of krátos "strength, power, authority" — more at hard entry 1

Note: The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, notes that the earliest English attestation of autocrat, from 1762, precedes the earliest French attestation by six years. The source in question, the newspaper The Public Advertiser, uses the word as part of the title of Catherine II, "Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias." "Autocrat" here most likely translates, with the loss of the feminine suffix, French autocratrice, a word used in the French titles of three Russian empresses: Anna (1730-40), Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-62), and Catherine (1762-1796). The masculine correspondent was autocrateur, which corresponds not to Greek autokratḗs, but rather to the adjective autokrátōr, which is better attested in ancient Greek in a wider array of meanings: "independent, with full authority, in control, with sole authority," and in the early Roman empire is used as the Greek equivalent of Latin imperātor (see imperator, emperor). Indeed, though the etymology above showing borrowing from autokratḗs is formally acceptable, English autocrate may more likely be a back-formation from autocracy (in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the meanings "self-control" and "absolute power," and also spelled autocrasy, autocraty) (compare aristocrat, democrat). The Russian equivalents of French autocrateur and autocratrice were samoderžec and samoderžica (compare samoderžavie "autocracy"), which themselves represent calques on Greek autokrátōr, though at a much earlier period (Old Church Slavic samodrŭžĭcĭ, samodrŭžitelĭ, from samo- "self" and drŭžati "to hold, have, control").

First Known Use

1762, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of autocrat was in 1762

Rhymes for autocrat

See All Rhymes for autocrat

Browse Nearby Words

autocrat
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Autocrat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autocrat. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

autocrat

noun
au·​to·​crat ˈȯt-ə-ˌkrat How to pronounce autocrat (audio)
: a person who rules with unlimited authority

More from Merriam-Webster on autocrat

Nglish: Translation of autocrat for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All