totalitarian Hear it!

totalitarian Definition

to·tali·tar·ian (tō tal′ə ter′ē ən, tō′tal-)

adjective

  1. designating, of, or characteristic of a government or state in which one political party or group maintains complete control under a dictatorship and bans all others
  2. completely authoritarian, autocratic, dictatorial, etc.

Etymology: total + (author)itarian

noun

a person who favors such a government or state

totalitarian Related Forms
to·tal′i·tar′i·an·ism′ noun
totalitarian Synonyms

totalitarian

modif.

fascistic, despotic, dictatorial; see absolute 3, autocratic 1, tyrannical.

totalitarian Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • dictatorship: What were the main features of totalitarian dictatorship in Nazi Germany?
  • regime: Their totalitarian regime held much of Europe captive behind an iron curtain.
  • ideology: All totalitarian ideologies show a distinctive wish to control the time in which they exist.
  • dictator: Groups always place flowers at the feet of these icons and we all bow with respect - whatever your personal views about totalitarian dictators.
  • tyranny: The most stable and effective political system is a totalitarian tyranny.
  • socialism: But neither liberal democracy nor totalitarian socialism are able to explain what is going on.

Modifying Another Word

  • almost: G8 almost totalitarian enough for China and free flights to Burma.
  • increasingly: The economy in which we live is increasingly totalitarian.
  • potentially: This is the thin end of a potentially totalitarian wedge.
  • even: That word and goal became so powerful that not even totalitarian states could resist it.
totalitarian Quotes

It's all honourable enough in its way, but it creates societies which simply cannot sustain any kind of democratic structure. It always leads to totalitarian and corrupt tyrannies† There's no tradition of moral individual courage in Chinese culture.

—Mo,Timothy

The cardinal tenets of feminism divided my generation, effectively disempowering and disenfranchising its members. It does make me bitterlyangry that my generation, which prided itself so complacently on its soul, on its powers of intelligence and analysis, should have fallen so cloddishly for totalitarian simplicities which declared a war of eternal opposition between men and women.

—Lynd, Robert