Meaning & use
dictator
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountabledisapproving
A ruler who holds complete power in a country, usually without free elections and without limits set by law.
Grammar: Usually carries a negative tone: the dictator ruled for decades.
Patterns
- a military dictator
- the dictator of a country
The dictator banned all opposition parties.
Crowds celebrated when the dictator was finally overthrown.
The country lived under a dictator for thirty years.
nouncountableinformaldisapprovingfigurative
A person in a group who insists on getting their own way and gives orders without listening to others.
Grammar: Used figuratively and often humorously: my boss is a real dictator.
Patterns
- a dictator at work
Our team captain turned into a dictator once the match began.
My brother acts like a dictator about the thermostat.
Nobody dared disagree with the dictator in the kitchen.
nouncountablespecialist
In ancient Rome, an official given complete power for a short time to deal with an emergency.
Grammar: A historical term without the negative meaning: a Roman dictator.
Patterns
- a Roman dictator
The Senate appointed a dictator to lead the war.
A Roman dictator normally held power for no more than six months.
Cincinnatus gave up his power as dictator and went back to his farm.
Word forms
| plural | dictators |
|---|
Common combinations
- military dictator
- A military dictator seized power in the coup.
- brutal dictator
- The brutal dictator crushed all protests.
- overthrow a dictator
- Rebels tried to overthrow the dictator.
- ruthless dictator
- He was a ruthless dictator who feared his own generals.
- aging dictator
- The aging dictator rarely appeared in public.
Synonyms and how they differ
- autocrat
- Autocrat stresses having unlimited personal power, and may not suggest violence, whereas dictator often suggests force and fear.
- tyrant
- Tyrant focuses on cruelty and abuse of power, while dictator focuses on the unchecked hold on power.
- despot
- Despot is a more literary word for a ruler with absolute power, often used for cruel kings of the past.
- strongman
- Strongman is often used by journalists and can sound admiring or critical, depending on the writer.
Opposites
Word family
- dictatorship noun
- government by a dictator, or a country ruled this way
- dictatorial adjective
- like a dictator, bossy and overbearing
- dictate verb
- to order, or to speak words for someone to write
- dictation noun
- the act of speaking words for someone to write down
Commonly confused: dictator or dictionary?
dictator vs dictionary
Dictionary shares the same Latin root dicere, to say, but means a book of words. A dictator is a ruler who dictates, that is, orders others about.
Practice
Which person would most naturally be called a dictator in the political sense?
Choose one answer.
A dictator holds absolute power without free elections or limits. An elected president and a judge work within rules, and a teacher is not a ruler.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dictator”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.