as in oppressive
controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed
A totalitarian state that did not even allow outsiders to visit.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in authoritarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of totalitarian
Susan Shelley, Orange County Register, 22 Jan. 2025
The totalitarian regime of 1984 brings innovation to the erasure of history.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025
Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Adjective
Censorship and its totalitarian cousin, propaganda, combined to control the information that was generally available to the public under the Biden administration.
—Susan Shelley, Orange County Register, 22 Jan. 2025
The totalitarian regime of 1984 brings innovation to the erasure of history.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 27 Feb. 2025
Noun
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom.
—Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare.
—Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for totalitarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for totalitarian
Adjective
-
Cryptocurrency mixers can be essential tools for individuals who value privacy, including those living under oppressive regimes, journalists, whistleblowers, and businesses that require confidentiality in their transactions.—
Becca Bratcher,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
-
Coventry became the minister of sports a year after the coup that removed Mugabe in the new administration of current President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s vice president who rights groups say has continued many of Mugabe’s oppressive policies.—
Gerald Imray,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The obvious split between a democratic Taiwan and an authoritarian China is an uncontestable reality and is part of the international consensus.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Mar. 2025
-
Since taking office just a few weeks ago, President Trump has rapidly depleted the reservoir of America’s soft power with an authoritarian bent and astonishing speed.—
Penny Abeywardena,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The cover of the first issue of The New Yorker, dated Feb. 21, 1925, carried no portraits of potentates or tycoons, no headlines, no come-ons.—
Christopher B. Daly,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2025
-
Or were all those billionaire potentates in the Capitol Rotunda — seated in front of Trump’s Cabinet picks — asserting their social, economic and cultural hegemony?—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
As soon as the dictator was out, Samer Jalbout was on the move.—
Taylor Luck,
The Christian Science Monitor,
25 Mar. 2025
-
But filmmaker Feras Fayyad, who endured torture in Assad’s prisons, never gave up the certainty that one day the dictator would be ousted.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The assailants are domestic extremists whose aim is to further an agenda of tyrants and oligarchs.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2025
-
It was used, with the blood of brave Ukrainians, to defend their country from a tyrant’s aggression.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Totalitarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/totalitarian. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share