Meaning & use
authoritarian
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Demanding strict obedience to rulers or rules and allowing people little freedom to disagree or choose for themselves.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: an authoritarian regime; his style is authoritarian.
Patterns
- authoritarian rule
- authoritarian government
The country has been under authoritarian rule for thirty years.
Her authoritarian parenting left little room for discussion.
Critics called the new law authoritarian.
nouncountable
A person who believes in or practices strict control and expects total obedience from others.
Grammar: Takes a plural and often has a critical tone: he is a born authoritarian.
Patterns
- an authoritarian
The manager was an authoritarian who forbade any questions.
Historians describe him as a ruthless authoritarian.
Not every strong leader is an authoritarian.
Word forms
| comparative | more authoritarian |
|---|---|
| superlative | most authoritarian |
| plural | authoritarians |
Common combinations
- authoritarian regime
- Citizens of the authoritarian regime could not criticize the leader.
- authoritarian leader
- The authoritarian leader shut down the newspapers.
- authoritarian state
- The country slid toward an authoritarian state.
- authoritarian parent
- An authoritarian parent expects rules to be followed without discussion.
- authoritarian style
- His authoritarian style made the team nervous.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dictatorial
- Dictatorial suggests one person with absolute power, while authoritarian can describe a system or a style.
- totalitarian
- Totalitarian is more extreme, describing a state that controls nearly every part of life.
- strict
- Strict is milder and can be positive, while authoritarian implies oppressive control.
- domineering
- Domineering describes bossy personal behavior, whereas authoritarian is used mostly for governments and institutions.
Opposites
Word family
- authoritarianism noun
- a system of strict control with little freedom
- authority noun
- the power to give orders
- authoritative adjective
- trusted and knowledgeable
- authorize verb
- to give official permission
Commonly confused: authoritarian or authoritative?
authoritarian vs authoritative
Authoritative means respected as reliable, as in an authoritative guide, while authoritarian means strict and controlling.
Practice
The book was praised as an ______ account of the war, written by a leading historian.
Choose one answer.
Authoritative means reliable and expert. Authoritarian describes strict control and would be a strange way to praise a history book.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “authoritarian”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.