Adjacent Words

Dictator definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DICTATOR, n. [L.]
1. One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims for the direction of others.
2. One invested with absolute authority. In ancient Rome, a magistrate, created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power. He remained in office six months.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine
2: a ruler who is unconstrained by law [syn: dictator, potentate]
3: a person who behaves in a tyrannical manner; "my boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime" [syn: authoritarian, dictator]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Latin, from dictare Date: 14th century 1. a. a person granted absolute emergency power; especially one appointed by the senate of ancient Rome b. one holding complete autocratic control c. one ruling absolutely and often oppressively 2. one that dictates

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a ruler with (often usurped) unrestricted authority. 2 a person with supreme authority in any sphere. 3 a domineering person. 4 a person who dictates for transcription. 5 Rom.Hist. a chief magistrate with absolute power, appointed in an emergency. Etymology: ME f. L (as DICTATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dictator Dic*ta"tor, n. [L.] 1. One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others. --Locke. 2. One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power. Invested with the authority of a dictator, nay, of a pope, over our language. --Macaulay.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dictators) A dictator is a ruler who has complete power in a country, especially power which was obtained by force and is used unfairly or cruelly. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Despot, autocrat, absolute ruler.

Moby Thesaurus

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