Adjacent Words

Despot definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESPOT, n. An emperor, king or price invested with absolute power, or ruling without any control from men, constitution or laws. Hence in a general sense, a tyrant.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cruel and oppressive dictator [syn: tyrant, autocrat, despot]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle French despote, from Greek despot?s master, lord, autocrat, from des- (akin to domos house) + -pot?s (akin to posis husband); akin to Sanskrit dampati lord of the house — more at dome, potent Date: 1585 1. a. a Byzantine emperor or prince b. a bishop or patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church c. an Italian hereditary prince or military leader during the Renaissance 2. a. a ruler with absolute power and authority b. a person exercising power tyrannically

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 an absolute ruler. 2 a tyrant or oppressor. Derivatives: despotic adj. despotically adv. Etymology: F despote f. med.L despota f. Gk despotes master, lord

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Despot Des"pot, n. [F. despote, LL. despotus, fr. Gr. despo`ths master, lord, the second part of which is akin to po`sis husband, and L. potens. See Potent.] 1. A master; a lord; especially, an absolute or irresponsible ruler or sovereign. Irresponsible power in human hands so naturally leads to it, that cruelty has become associated with despot and tyrant. --C. J. Smith. 2. One who rules regardless of a constitution or laws; a tyrant.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(despots) A despot is a ruler or other person who has a lot of power and who uses it unfairly or cruelly. = tyrant, dictator N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Autocrat, dictator, absolute sovereign, absolute ruler. 2. Tyrant, oppressor, arbitrary or wilful ruler.

Moby Thesaurus

Simon Legree, absolute monarch, absolute ruler, all-powerful ruler, arrogator, autarch, autocrat, caesar, commissar, czar, dictator, disciplinarian, driver, duce, hard master, martinet, oligarch, oppressor, pharaoh, slave driver, stickler, strong man, tyrant, usurper, warlord