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despot Definition

des·pot (despət)

noun

  1. Archaic a title meaning “master,” applied to certain classes of rulers, as Byzantine emperors or bishops of the Greek church
  2. an absolute ruler; king with unlimited powers; autocrat
  3. anyone in charge who acts like a tyrant

Etymology: OFr despote < Gr despotēs, a master, lord < IE *dems-potis, lit., house master < *dem-, house (> timber, L domus) + *potis, master, husband (> L potis, potent, Goth -faths, husband)

despot Synonyms

despot

n.

oppressor, autocrat, tyrant; see dictator.

despot Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • lot: That then easily became opposition to Napoleon, the most formidable enlightened despot of the lot.
  • century: Waugh fails to make the connection between the action of the Lancashire mill owner and the philosophy of European despots of the eighteenth century.

Converse of object

  • become: In 1792, Gustavus III, a patron of the arts who had become an enlightened despot, was shot.
  • like: Charlotte always arranges everything in our house and rules us like a despot.

Adjective modifier

  • benevolent: The table scrap thing makes a person feel like a benevolent despot, a human queen of the cat realm.
  • enlightened: In 1792, Gustavus III, a patron of the arts who had become an enlightened despot, was shot.
  • local: He was a local despot, with great appeal to Arab youths.
  • evil: Stalin was quickly depicted as an evil despot, out to conquer the world.
  • absolute: It is true that the bishop was not an absolute despot.
  • political: The AoD production represented the returning warrior as a political despot ( complete with leather Nazi-style coat ).

Preposition: in

charge: I support regime change where despots in charge are a danger to their own citizens and a danger to the citizens of other countries.

Browse dictionary entries near despot

  1. despondent
  2. despondency
  3. despond
  4. despoliation
  5. despoil
  6. despiteful
  7. despite
  8. despise
  9. despicable
  10. desperation
  1. despotic
  2. despotism
  3. despumate
  4. desquamate
  5. Dessau
  6. dessert
  7. dessertspoon
  8. dessiatine
  9. destabilize
  10. destain