dictator
UK /dɪkˈteɪtə/ · US /ˈdɪkˌteɪtəɹ/ noun
Forms dictators dictatour
- noun An authoritarian leader of a country, nation, or government.
- noun (history) A magistrate without colleague in republican Ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the Senate, typically to conduct a war.
- noun A tyrannical boss or authority figure.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”. Compare Old English tictator (“absolute ruler of the Roman Republic”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others. Locke.
- noun One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power.
Etymology [L.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dictator”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details