despot

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“
Ought not every reasonable prince to perceive, that the despot is a madman, and an enemy to himself?

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. noun A ruler with absolute power.
  2. noun A person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant.
  3. noun A Byzantine emperor or prince.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Montalban's magnetic, robust presence; that voice that sounded like a ride over rolling hills -- he made Khan Noonien Singh the worst kind of despot: the kind you're pretty sure you'd die for. —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • "In every country and in every age the priest has been hostile to liberty; he is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own." —  WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
  • As for the word despot I believe it suited George Bush more than any premier in the modern world but because of your biased view you will never understand what I mean. —  Mail & Guardian Online
  • Try to visualize a nation whose people are ruled by a despot, a tyrant allied with none other than the U.S. government.
  • He is an outsized despot, a study in contra­dictions in a country torn between an impulse to populist socialism and the preservation of political and economic pluralism. —  The Heritage Foundation Papers
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This word has been looked up 180 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

tyrant ·  despotism ·  dictator ·  potentate ·  ruler ·  conqueror ·  monarchy ·  monarch ·  tyranny ·  oppressor ·  autocrat ·  villain

Used in the same contextWord Family

despot:   despots
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Greek despotēs, master; see dem- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also despote; = Dutch despoot = G. Danish Swedish despot, from Old French despot, despost, French despote = Spanish déspota = Portuguese despota = Italian despota, despoto, from Middle Latin despota, despotus, from Greek δεσπότης, a master, lord, ruler, apparently orig. comp., from δεσ-, origin unknown,+*πότις, later πόσις, husband, orig. master, = Sanskrit pati, lord, = Lithuanian patis, lord, = Latin potis, able, cf. Latin poten(t-)s, strong, potent: see potent, posse.
 

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/ˈdɛspɑt/
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