as in tyrant
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the despot exiled political dissidents to remote labor camps, where they were left to rot
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Recent Examples of despot
This sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic substitutes the brother emperors Caracalla and Geta for the original’s Commodus, modeling them not only on him, but on a host of Rome’s other reputedly bloodthirsty despots like Caligula, Nero, and Domitian.
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Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 20 Dec. 2024
On the other side lies the Harkonnen, a family of ruthless despots led by the sadistic Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista), the monstrous Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård), and the ambitious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), who represent the manifestation of corruption, violence and greed.
—Robert Lang, Deadline, 11 Dec. 2024
The French government’s long-standing practice of paying off dictators in France’s former African colonies (sometimes taking kickbacks from those despots in the form of campaign contributions) is so well known that much French media coverage evokes it with a one-word epithet: Françafrique.
—Sarah Chayes, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020
And a wary world was watching to see whether Syria was replacing one despot with another.
—Richard Engel, NBC News, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for despot 
Jeffrey E. Schulman / Made By History, TIME, 20 Dec. 2024
On the other side lies the Harkonnen, a family of ruthless despots led by the sadistic Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista), the monstrous Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård), and the ambitious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), who represent the manifestation of corruption, violence and greed.
—Robert Lang, Deadline, 11 Dec. 2024
The French government’s long-standing practice of paying off dictators in France’s former African colonies (sometimes taking kickbacks from those despots in the form of campaign contributions) is so well known that much French media coverage evokes it with a one-word epithet: Françafrique.
—Sarah Chayes, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020
And a wary world was watching to see whether Syria was replacing one despot with another.
—Richard Engel, NBC News, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for despot
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Cite this Entry
“Despot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despot. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
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