How to Use despotic in a Sentence

despotic

adjective
  • Most humans who have ever lived have done so under despotic regimes.
    — Stephen D. Krasner, Foreign Affairs, 10 Feb. 2020
  • Venezuela and Nicaragua remain under the grip of despotic regimes.
    — Otto Reich, National Review, 8 Apr. 2020
  • Szell was known for being demanding, to the point of being despotic.
    — Michael Cooper, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2019
  • This is how legal systems in despotic regimes operate.
    — Andrew Binns, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
  • There’s a certain irony to the World Cup falling into the hands of a despotic regime.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 29 Dec. 2022
  • If Covid had been a giant upender of life’s order, this new regime of fear was even more despotic.
    — Han Ong, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
  • The despotic Kaiser’s reign has produced a land where life and death are equally meaningless.
    — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2021
  • Orïsha used to be steeped in magic, but a despotic king ripped magic from the land and slaughtered the magic users, or maji.
    — Constance Grady, Vox, 30 Mar. 2018
  • Trump has acted in ways that were despotic and authoritarian at times, but this takes the cake.
    — Ashley Pratte Oates, CNN, 5 Dec. 2022
  • In the World war, Americans dared to stand upon the side of those who raised the shield against despotic forces.
    — Editorial Board, Star Tribune, 30 May 2021
  • Tiberius, who is remembered as a despotic recluse, spent the last 10 years of his reign living on Capri.
    — Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 12 Feb. 2024
  • By firing Comey, the president told us all that his despotic training wheels are coming off.
    — Jamil Smith, Esquire, 12 May 2017
  • Hip-hop regenerates constantly, and yet there has been an almost despotic grip on the throne(s) for some time.
    — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
  • The Holocaust was planned and fomented in secrecy by a despotic regime.
    — Victor J. Blue, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • The Holocaust was planned and fomented in secrecy by a despotic regime.
    — Victor J. Blue, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • What primarily shook the island, and caught its despotic rulers off guard, was Cubans’ hunger for freedom.
    — Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021
  • Like the despotic Kims, Cuba’s regime keeps its citizens poor and unfree.
    — The Economist, 18 Apr. 2018
  • No country had more to gain than Libya, which had endured four decades of despotic rule by Moammar Gaddafi.
    — Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2021
  • In the lab, though, the highest ranking males form particularly despotic regimes.
    — Byemily Underwood, science.org, 27 Jan. 2023
  • Even North Korea, by many assessments the world’s most thuggish and despotic regime, tried to seize the moral high ground.
    — The Economist, 8 June 2020
  • Holding power against the wishes of most citizens is an innately despotic act.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 10 Nov. 2020
  • The despotic regime whose malign indifference killed so many and cost so much cannot be allowed to pretend that nothing happened.
    — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 12 June 2021
  • Idris Elba costars as the Commandant, a despotic leader who preys on Abu.
    — Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2024
  • For close to 50 years, the government of Iran has been one of the most despotic and destabilizing forces in the world.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 2026
  • When policing and biting were present, a despotic hierarchy emerged — a single ant on top, with all other ants sharing the same rank.
    — Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 27 May 2016
  • What’s the latest news from the wild intersection of international sports and despotic regimes?
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 10 June 2022
  • Loss of credibility leads to loss of legitimacy in a despotic regime.
    — Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
  • All of this teaches the dangers of relying on despotic leaders determined to upend the global order.
    — Rahm Emanuel, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2022
  • The Academy rules work for countries with democratic governments but not for countries with despotic regimes.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The Academy rules work for countries with democratic governments but not for countries with despotic regimes.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 4 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'despotic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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