DICTATORSHIP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dictatorship mean? 

• DICTATORSHIP (noun)
  The noun DICTATORSHIP has 1 sense:

1. a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

  Familiarity information: DICTATORSHIP used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DICTATORSHIP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

absolutism; authoritarianism; Caesarism; despotism; dictatorship; monocracy; one-man rule; shogunate; Stalinism; totalitarianism; tyranny

Hypernyms ("dictatorship" is a kind of...):

autarchy; autocracy (a political system governed by a single individual)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dictatorship"):

police state (a country that maintains repressive control over the people by means of police (especially secret police))

Derivation:

dictator (a ruler who is unconstrained by law)