despotism

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: des=pot=ism

OXFORD DICTIONARY

despotism, n.
1 a rule by a despot. b a country ruled by a despot.
2 absolute power or control; tyranny.

THESAURUS

despotism

Caesarism, Stalinism, absolute monarchy, absolutism, argumentum baculinum, autarchy, authoritarianism, autocracy, benevolent despotism, big stick, czarism, dictatorship, domination, domineering, fascism, heavy hand, high hand, iron boot, iron hand, iron heel, kaiserism, monarchy, monocracy, one-man rule, one-party rule, oppression, paternalism, reign of terror, repression, suppression, terrorism, thought control, totalitarianism, tyranny

ROGET THESAURUS

despotism

Authority

N authority, influence, patronage, power, preponderance, credit, prestige, prerogative, jurisdiction, right, direction, government, divine right, dynastic rights, authoritativeness, absoluteness, absolutism, despotism, jus nocendi, jus divinum, mastery, mastership, masterdom, dictation, control, hold, grasp, grip, gripe, reach, iron sway, fangs, clutches, talons, rod of empire, commission, deputy, permission, at the head, dominant, paramount, supreme, predominant, preponderant, in the ascendant, influential, arbitrary, compulsory, stringent, at one's command, in one's power, in one's grasp, under control, in the name of, by the authority of, de par le Roi, in virtue of, under the auspices of, in the hands of, at one's pleasure, by a dash if the pen, by a stroke of the pen, ex mero motu, ex cathedra, from the chair, the gray mare the better horse, every inch a king.

Severity

N severity, strictness, harshness, rigor, stringency, austerity, inclemency, arrogance, precisianism, arbitrary power, absolutism, despotism, dictatorship, autocracy, tyranny, domineering, oppression, assumption, usurpation, inquisition, reign of terror, martial law, iron heel, iron rule, iron hand, iron sway, tight grasp, brute force, brute strength, coercion, strong hand, tight hand, hard lines, hard measure, tender mercies, sharp practice, pipe-clay, officialism, tyrant, disciplinarian, precisian, martinet, stickler, bashaw, despot, hard master, Draco, oppressor, inquisitor, extortioner, harpy, vulture, accipitres, birds of prey, raptorials, raptors, severe, strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative, coercive, tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial, inclement, cruel, haughty, arrogant, precisian, severely, with a high hand, with a strong hand, with a tight hand, with a heavy hand, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi, manu forti, ogni debole ha sempre il suo tiranno.

Illegality

N illegality, lawlessness, illicitness, breach of law, violation of law, infraction of the law, disobedience, unconformity, arbitrariness, antinomy, violence, brute force, despotism, outlawry, mob law, lynch law, club law, Lydford law, martial law, drumhead law, coup d'etat, le droit du plus fort, argumentum baculinum, illegality, informality, unlawfulness, illegitimacy, bar sinister, trover and conversion, smuggling, poaching, simony, outlaw, bad man, v, offend against the law, violate the law, infringe the law, break the law, set the law at defiance, ride roughshod over, drive a coach and six through a statute, ignore the law, make the law a dead letter, take the law into one's own hands, smuggle, run, poach, illegal, unlawful, illegitimate, not allowed, prohibited, illicit, contraband, actionable, unwarranted, unwarrantable, unauthorized, informal, unofficial, injudicial, extrajudicial, lawless, arbitrary, despotic, despotical, corrupt, summary, irresponsible, unanswerable, unaccountable, expired, invalid, unchartered, unconstitutional, null and void, a dead letter, lawless, unregulated, illegally, with a high hand, in violation of law.