How to Use despotism in a Sentence

despotism

noun
  • The worst of all despotisms is the heartless tyranny of ideas.
    — Daniel Pipes, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2018
  • But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.
    — Jack Butler, National Review, 3 Nov. 2020
  • In those places, people who were in despotism’s firm grip rebelled and quickly learned how firm the grip was.
    — George Will, Twin Cities, 19 Sep. 2019
  • If that were true, benevolent despotism would be the best form of government.
    — Susan Neiman, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2024
  • Such a step would smack of despotism in a capital that cherishes checks on power.
    — David Von Drehle, Time, 22 June 2017
  • McMahon built this empire through, at once, vision and despotism.
    — Dan Greene, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2023
  • The nation which will not adopt an equilibrium of power must adopt a despotism.
    — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • The wise government was one that grasped the natural despotism of the human mind.
    — TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Democracy has its faults, but so, too, does every variety of despotism.
    — Madeleine K. Albright, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021
  • The apologists for despotism may appear to have won the battle, but not the argument.
    — Christian Caryl, New Republic, 27 Oct. 2017
  • There’s a paper raising the question of whether despotism is necessary to stop climate change.
    — Daniel A. Gross, The New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2021
  • As with most open-source projects, the decisions regarding what gets added and changed are made through a mix of despotism and anarchy.
    — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, 17 Dec. 2018
  • Every day brings another lurch into despotism, bringing more fear, gaslighting and chaos.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2025
  • The third resembles despotism by a cruel master or absolute monarch.
    — WIRED, 6 July 2023
  • Her life is a series of insurrections against male despotism, beginning with her father’s.
    — Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2020
  • Arendt’s true subject is the appeal of authoritarianism and the ease with which despotism can take hold.
    — Erin Overbey, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2020
  • Then some come and try to put us between two impossible options; either despotism or terrorism.
    — Alessandra Codinha, Vogue, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Yet this isn't the first time of judicial despotism in American history.
    — Ryan Cooper, The Week, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Out there — in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere — wars rage, drought crisps the land, democracy strains against despotism.
    — Alan Cowell, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2016
  • Fiction and poetry were Mario’s refuge from Ernesto’s domestic despotism.
    — Marcela Valdes, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018
  • The lie is that the discretionary despotism of policing necessarily protects and serves the people.
    — Stuart Schrader, The New Republic, 27 May 2021
  • And there are worse messages to be putting out into the world via family films right now than celebrating the virtues of kindness and fairness over cruel despotism.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2025
  • His dream was nothing less than a new reality, a hopeful future free of despotism, ruled by equality and liberty, rather than kings and queens.
    — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
  • China slipped back into despotism, warlordism and (following an invasion by Japan) all-out civil war.
    — The Economist, 17 May 2018
  • But increasingly, he’s charged with reining in Walt’s runaway ambition — and bearing the brunt of his despotism.
    — Charles McNultytheater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2022
  • As Alexis de Tocqueville noted, despotism can do without religious faith, but freedom cannot.
    — Nr Staff, National Review, 10 Sep. 2020
  • The Romans overthrew their monarchy, established a republic, and replaced it with a despotism which was a monarchy in all but name.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 23 Dec. 2010
  • Eight decades later, as nations inch toward despotism, an art animated by democratic impulses makes a stronger case for itself.
    — Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Then she was uprooted again after building a life for herself and starting a family, this time driven away by Castro’s despotism.
    — Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2021
  • The public position against Russian Federation in all areas is a loud cure for despotism.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Mar. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'despotism.' 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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