dictator
noun
Synonyms
Examples of dictator in a Sentence
Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 5 Apr. 2024
This 'dictator on Day 1' hoax has done a number on the Democrats.
—Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
The department had been sending trainers overseas under Gates’ predecessor to countries in crisis like the Dominican Republic, which erupted into civil war in the mid-1960s following the brutal reign of dictator Rafael Trujillo.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
Construction began in the 1950s under dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez.
—John Otis, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
When a power-drunk ape goes bananas and starts acting more and more like a dictator, a young ape emerges on the scene.
—Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2024
Latin America has had dictators to spare, yet El Conde is the rare film that gives one the satirical treatment.
—Valerie Trapp, The Atlantic, 9 Mar. 2024
Winslet plays a vain dictator of a fictional European country who leads her unwitting citizens into civil war with her increasingly poor decisions.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2024
Well, don’t forget Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dictator.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Middle English dictatour, borrowed from Latin dictātor, from dictāre "to say repeatedly, speak aloud words to be transcribed by another, issue as an order" + -tor, agent suffix — more at dictate entry 1
Note: Though formally a derivative of dictāre, the noun dictātor is attested perhaps two centuries earlier in Latin and may be an independent formation, though the model for it is not clear; the sense "issue as an order" of dictāre may reflect influence of dictātor. The form tictator used in the Old English translation of Orosius's Historiae Adversum Paganos had no subsequent use.
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Dictionary Entries Near dictator
Cite this Entry
“Dictator.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dictator. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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dictator
noun
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