Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A ruler having unlimited power; a despot.
  • noun A person with unlimited power or authority.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An absolute prince or sovereign; a ruler or monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government as by inherent right, not subject to restrictions: as, “the autocrat of all the Russias,” a title assumed by the emperor of Russia.
  • noun One who is invested with or assumes unlimited authority in any relation: as, “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table” (title of a book)

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An absolute sovereign; a monarch who holds and exercises the powers of government by claim of absolute right, not subject to restriction.
  • noun One who rules with undisputed sway in any company or relation; a despot.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An absolute ruler with infinite power
  • noun A title borne by some such Monarchs, as in Byzantium and tsarist Russia

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cruel and oppressive dictator

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French autocrate, from Greek autokratēs, ruling by oneself : auto-, auto- + -kratēs, -crat.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French autocrate, itself from Ancient Greek αὐτοκρατής (autokratēs, "sovereign"), from αὐτο- (auto-, "self") (combinatory form of αὐτός) + κρατία (kratia, "rule") (from κράτος (kratos, "strength, power"))

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word autocrat.

Examples

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat Suharto in 1998, and anger over a farmland purchased by South Korean firm Daewoo at a time of rising prices was in part blamed for a 2009 coup in Madagascar.

    Record High Food Prices Stoke Fears For Economy Nicole Hardesty 2011

  • Only yesterday Obama held a very good speech about good governance and democracy, today another African autocrat is preparing to renew his bail on power for yet another 7 years in spite of his judicial setbacks about his real estate in France.

    Global Voices in English » Congo Brazzaville: Disappointment at Presidential election 2009

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat Suharto in 1998, and anger over a farmland purchased by South Korean firm Daewoo at a time of rising prices was in part blamed for a 2009 coup in Madagascar.

    Record High Food Prices Stoke Fears For Economy Nicole Hardesty 2011

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat Suharto in 1998, and anger over a farmland purchased by South Korean firm Daewoo at a time of rising prices was in part blamed for a 2009 coup in Madagascar.

    Record High Food Prices Stoke Fears For Economy Nicole Hardesty 2011

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat Suharto in 1998, and anger over a farmland purchased by South Korean firm Daewoo at a time of rising prices was in part blamed for a 2009 coup in Madagascar.

    Record High Food Prices Stoke Fears For Economy Nicole Hardesty 2011

  • Besides, let us not forget that an autocrat is tied very closely to success.

    Hitlerism 1939

  • Whether Labor or the State as the autocrat is preferable to existing capitalistic control, beholden as it is, in some measure at least, to both Labor and the State, is something to which conditions in Europe at the present time afford an all-sufficient answer.

    The Four Parties to Industry 1919

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat

    Reuters: Top News 2011

  • Food price protests were seen a factor in the ousting of Indonesia's long-term autocrat

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • McCain seemed to think he was a Latin American autocrat - despite the reporter repeatedly saying "I am talking about Spain."

    WN.com - Business News 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • The political party for the Autobots.

    November 12, 2008