AUTHORITARIAN • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Authoritarian

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/əθˌɔrətˈɛriən/ Listen

adjective

authoritarian adj.

Characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty; of governments or rulers; as, an authoritarian regime

Synonyms: autocratic, dictatorial, despotic, tyrannical

Expecting unquestioning obedience: "he was imperious and dictatorial"; "the timid child of authoritarian parents"; "insufferably overbearing behavior toward the waiter".

Synonyms: dictatorial, overbearing

noun

authoritarian n.

Behaves like a tyrant.

Synonyms: dictator

See images of 'Authoritarian'

Etymology of 'Authoritarian'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Authoritarian" Quotes from Famous Books

... transitional government note: on 28 May 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) toppled the authoritarian government of MENGISTU Haile-Mariam and took control in Addis Ababa; a new constitution was promulgated in December 1994 and national and regional elections are scheduled for May 1995; the administrative regions will elect regional assemblies by popular vote; ...

— The 1995 CIA World Factbook • United States Central Intelligence Agency

... young author, with a certain vinegary twitch, "that you are unacquainted with my opuscula. I am a convinced authoritarian. I share none of those illusory, Utopian fancies with which empirics blind themselves and exasperate the ignorant. The day of these ideas is, believe me, past, ...

— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 7 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... peremptorily, if she would have Messer Simone for mate, she did no more than incline her head in what Messer Folco took to be a signal of submission to his will. At this yielding he, being by nature an authoritarian, seemed not a little pleased. For the death of Dante, and the effect that death might have upon his daughter's welfare, he did not care and did not profess to care in the least. Dante as a human being was nothing to him—nothing more, at least, than a young man ...

— The God of Love • Justin Huntly McCarthy

... seen in that one aspect in which men are really equal. The old writers were entirely wise when they talked of the equality of men; but they were also very wise in not mentioning women. Women are always authoritarian; they are always above or below; that is why marriage is a sort of poetical see-saw. There are only three things in the world that women do not understand; and they are Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. ...

— What's Wrong With The World • G.K. Chesterton

... think that the bird, if not imperial, was at least rather imperious. But I am not discussing those exceptional details here. It is equally obvious that a Russian reactionary might cross the world with a vow of vengeance against the red flag. But that authoritarian might have some difficulties with the authorities, if he shot a man for using the red flag on the railway between Willesden and ...

— What I Saw in America • G. K. Chesterton

... Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of Peronist authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and numerous elections since then have underscored Argentina's progress ...

— The 2002 CIA World Factbook • US Government