n., pl. -nies.

1. A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
2. The office, authority, or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.
3. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly: “I have sworn . . . eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man” (Thomas Jefferson).
4. 1. Use of absolute power.
   2. A tyrannical act.
5. Extreme harshness or severity; rigor.

[Middle English tyrannie, from Old French, from Late Latin tyrannia, from Greek turanniā, from turannos, tyrant.]

noun

1. A government in which a single leader or party exercises absolute control over all citizens and every aspect of their lives: absolutism, autarchy, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, monocracy. See over/under, politics.
2. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly: autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism. See over/under, politics.

n

Definition: dictatorship
Antonyms: democracy

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In classical thought, a corrupt form of monarchy in which a person ruled in his own interest. More generally, the abuse of the state's coercive force in the absence of the rule of law. This absence more particularly suggests government by the will of the tyrant (cf. dictatorship) and the arbitrary treatment of citizens, if not the systematic use of terror. Democratic theorists like J. S. Mill have been concerned to avoid the tyranny of the majority. They fear that the rights of minorities and the stability of expectations built on settled law could be neglected by the majority's abuse of its numerical superiority under a system apparently legitimating the carrying out of its will.

— Andrew Reeve

IN BRIEF: Dominance through threat of punishment and violence.

The distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny. — Edward Abbey (1927-1989)

Quotes:

"Death is softer by far than tyranny." - Aeschylus

"In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend." - Aeschylus

"Tyranny and anarchy are never far apart." - Jeremy Bentham

"The most insupportable of tyrannies is that of inferiors." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"No totalitarians, no wars, no fears, famines or perils of any kind can really break a man's spirit until he breaks it himself by surrendering. Tyranny has many dread powers, but not the power to rule the spirit." - Edgar Sheffield Brightman

"The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him, they crush those beneath them." - Emily Bronte

See more famous quotes about Tyranny

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Common misspelling(s) of tyranny

• tyrany
• tyrrany

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tyranni

Nederlands (Dutch)
tirannie, dwingelandij

Français (French)
n. - tyrannie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Tyrannei, Gewaltherrschaft, Willkürherrschaft

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τυραννία

Italiano (Italian)
tirannia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tirania (f), despotismo (m)

Русский (Russian)
тирания, деспотизм

Español (Spanish)
n. - tiranía

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tyranni

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
压治统治, 暴政

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 壓治統治, 暴政

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 전제 정치, 횡포, 포학행위

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 専制政治, 僭主政治, 抑圧的な力, 圧力, 横暴, 圧政, 虐待

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) طغيان, أستبداد, حكومه استبداديه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רודנות, עריצות‬

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