| / English Dictionary |
DICTATOR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person who behaves in a tyrannical manner
Example:
my boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime
Synonyms:
authoritarian; dictator
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):
oppressor (a person of authority who subjects others to undue pressures)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dictator"):
Big Brother (a totalitarian leader and invader of privacy)
disciplinarian; martinet; moralist (someone who demands exact conformity to rules and forms)
Derivation:
dictate (issue commands or orders for)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A ruler who is unconstrained by law
Synonyms:
dictator; potentate
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):
ruler; swayer (a person who rules or commands)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dictator"):
shogun (a hereditary military dictator of Japan; the shoguns ruled Japan until the revolution of 1867-68)
strongman (a powerful political figure who rules by the exercise of force or violence)
autocrat; despot; tyrant (a cruel and oppressive dictator)
Instance hyponyms:
Duvalier; Francois Duvalier; Papa Doc (oppressive Haitian dictator (1907-1971))
Baby Doc; Duvalier; Jean-Claude Duvalier (son and successor of Francois Duvalier as president of Haiti; he was overthrown by a mass uprising in 1986 (born in 1951))
El Caudillo; Francisco Franco; Franco; General Franco (Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a dictator until his death (1892-1975))
Adolf Hitler; Der Fuhrer; Hitler (German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945))
Benito Mussolini; Il Duce; Mussolini (Italian fascist dictator (1883-1945))
Tojo; Tojo Eiki; Tojo Hideki (Japanese army officer who initiated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who assumed dictatorial control of Japan during World War II; he was subsequently tried and executed as a war criminal (1884-1948))
Derivation:
dictate (rule as a dictator)
dictatorial (characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty)
dictatorial (of or characteristic of a dictator)
dictatorship (a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.))
Sense 3
Meaning:
A speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):
speaker; talker; utterer; verbaliser; verbalizer (someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous))
Derivation:
dictate (say out loud for the purpose of recording)
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