Adjacent Words

Tyranny definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TYR'ANNY, n.
1. Arbitrary or despotic exercise of power; the exercise of power over subjects and others with a rigor not authorized by law or justice, or not requisite for the purposes of government. Hence tyranny is often synonymous with cruelty and oppression.
2. Cruel government or discipline; as the tyranny of a master.
3. Unresisted and cruel power.
4. Absolute monarchy cruelly administered.
5. Severity; rigor; inclemency.
The tyranny o' th' open night.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.) [syn: dictatorship, absolutism, authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny]
2: dominance through threat of punishment and violence [syn: absolutism, tyranny, despotism]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -nies) Etymology: Middle English tyrannie, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, from Latin tyrannus tyrant Date: 14th century 1. oppressive power <every form of tyranny over the mind of man — Thomas Jefferson>; especially oppressive power exerted by government <the tyranny of a police state> 2. a. a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state b. the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant 3. a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force <living under the tyranny of the clock — Dixon Wecter> 4. a tyrannical act <workers who had suffered tyrannies>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 the cruel and arbitrary use of authority. 2 a tyrannical act; tyrannical behaviour. 3 a rule by a tyrant. b a period of this. c a State ruled by a tyrant. Derivatives: tyrannous adj. tyrannously adv. Etymology: ME f. OF tyrannie f. med.L tyrannia f. Gk turannia (as TYRANT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tyranny Tyr"an*ny, n. [OE. tirannye, OF. tirannie, F. tyrannie; cf. It. tirannia; Gr. ?, ?, L. tyrannis. See Tyrant.] 1. The government or authority of a tyrant; a country governed by an absolute ruler; hence, arbitrary or despotic exercise of power; exercise of power over subjects and others with a rigor not authorized by law or justice, or not requisite for the purposes of government. ``Sir,'' would he [Seneca] say, ``an emperor mote need Be virtuous and hate tyranny.'' --Chaucer. 2. Cruel government or discipline; as, the tyranny of a schoolmaster. 3. Severity; rigor; inclemency. The tyranny of the open night's too rough For nature to endure. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tyrannies) 1. A tyranny is a cruel, harsh, and unfair government in which a person or small group of people have power over everyone else. Self-expression and individuality are the greatest weapons against tyranny. N-VAR 2. If you describe someone's behaviour and treatment of others that they have authority over as tyranny, you mean that they are severe with them or unfair to them. I'm the sole victim of Mother's tyranny. N-UNCOUNT 3. You can describe something that you have to use or have as a tyranny if you think it is undesirable or unpleasant. The telephone is one of the great tyrannies of modern life. N-COUNT: oft N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Despotism, absolutism, dictatorship, arbitrary power, despotic rule, autocracy. 2. Oppression, iron rule, reign of terror, cruel government.

Moby Thesaurus

Caesarism, Nazism, Stalinism, absolute monarchy, absolutism, arbitrariness, argumentum baculinum, aristocracy, autarchy, authoritarianism, autocracy, autonomy, benevolent despotism, big battalions, big stick, bond service, bondage, brute force, captivity, coalition government, colonialism, commonwealth, constitutional government, constitutional monarchy, control, czarism, debt slavery, democracy, deprivation of freedom, despotism, dictatorship, disenfranchisement, disfranchisement, domination, domineering, dominion rule, duarchy, duumvirate, dyarchy, enslavement, enthrallment, fascism, federal government, federation, feudal system, feudalism, feudality, force, garrison state, gerontocracy, heavy hand, helotism, helotry, heteronomy, hierarchy, hierocracy, high hand, home rule, indentureship, iron boot, iron hand, iron heel, kaiserism, limited monarchy, main force, martial law, meritocracy, militarism, military government, mob rule, mobocracy, monarchy, monocracy, naked force, neocolonialism, ochlocracy, oligarchy, one-man rule, one-party rule, oppression, pantisocracy, paternalism, patriarchate, patriarchy, peonage, physical force, police state, pure democracy, regency, reign of terror, representative democracy, representative government, republic, restraint, rule of might, self-determination, self-government, serfdom, serfhood, servility, servitude, slavery, social democracy, steamroller, stratocracy, subjection, subjugation, suppression, technocracy, terrorism, thearchy, theocracy, thought control, thrall, thralldom, totalitarian government, totalitarian regime, totalitarianism, totality, triarchy, triumvirate, ultima ratio, vassalage, villenage, welfare state