des·pot

(dĕs′pət)

1. A ruler with absolute power.

2. A person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant.

a. A Byzantine emperor or prince.

b. An Eastern Orthodox bishop or patriarch.

[French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Greek despotēs, master; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]

des·pot′ic (dĭ-spŏt′ĭk) adj.

des·pot′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

despot

(ˈdɛspɒt)

1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an absolute or tyrannical ruler; autocrat or tyrant

2. any person in power who acts tyrannically

3. (Historical Terms) a title borne by numerous persons of rank in the later Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires: the despot of Servia.

[C16: from Medieval Latin despota, from Greek despotēs lord, master; related to Latin domus house]

despotic, desˈpotical adj

desˈpotically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

des•pot

(ˈdɛs pət, -pɒt)

n.

1. a king or other ruler with absolute, unlimited power; autocrat.

2. any tyrant or oppressor.

3. a title applied to a Byzantine emperor, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors.

[1555–65; < Greek despótēs master; compare host¹]

des•pot•ic (dɪˈspɒt ɪk) des•pot′i•cal, adj.

des•pot′i•cal•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

despot - a cruel and oppressive dictator

autocrat, tyrant

czar - a person having great power

potentate, dictator - a ruler who is unconstrained by law

despot

noun tyrant, dictator, totalitarian, Big Brother, oppressor, control freak, autocrat, monocrat He described the president as a ruthless despot.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

despot

noun

1. An absolute ruler, especially one who is harsh and oppressive:

Big Brother, dictator, führer, man on horseback, oppressor, strongman, totalitarian, tyrant.

2. One who imposes or favors absolute obedience to authority:

authoritarian, autocrat, dictator, martinet, totalitarian, tyrant.

Translations

طاغٍ، مُسْتَبِد

despotatyran

despotdiktatortyran

Despot

despote

despotakényúrzsarnok

einræîisherra

despota

despotasdespotiškaidespotiškasdespotizmas

despots

hardstyrer

деспот

despota

despot

zorba

专制君主

despot

[ˈdespɒt] N → déspota mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

despot

[ˈdɛspɒt] n (= tyrant) → despote mf

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

despot

n (lit, fig) → Despot(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

despot

[ˈdɛspɒt] n → despota m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

despot

(ˈdespot) , ((American) -pət) noun

a person (usually the king or ruler of a country) with absolute power, often a tyrant.

deˈspotic adjective

deˈspotically adverb

ˈdespotism (-pə-) noun

absolute power or tyranny.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The skeleton of even the most lawless despot makes a good constitutional sovereign."

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An earthly despotism would be the absolutely perfect earthly government, if the conditions were the same, namely, the despot the perfectest individual of the human race, and his lease of life perpetual.

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The Emperor of Morocco is a soulless despot, and the great officers under him are despots on a smaller scale.

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Despotism is unjust to everybody, including the despot, who was probably made for better things.

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When I have been travelling up and down on our boats, or about on my collecting tours, and reflected that every brutal, disgusting, mean, low-lived fellow I met, was allowed by our laws to become absolute despot of as many men, women and children, as he could cheat, steal, or gamble money enough to buy,--when I have seen such men in actual ownership of helpless children, of young girls and women,--I have been ready to curse my country, to curse the human race!"

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like machines, they dumbly moved about the deck, ever conscious that the old man's despot eye was on them.

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Then Robespierre was beheaded for being a despot. Who is right and who is wrong?

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There was hardly any sort of bloodshed which I would not pardon in those days to the slayers of tyrants; and the swagger form of such as despatched a despot with a fine speech was so much to my liking that I could only grieve that I was born too late to do and to say those things.

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Yet all that was visible of the despot who ruled his whole household in deadly fear was the kindly and beautiful face of an elderly man, whose stunted limbs and body were mercifully concealed.

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For a few days, I said, he seemed regardless of the puny successor to the departed: that coldness melted as fast as snow in April, and ere the tiny thing could stammer a word or totter a step it wielded a despot's sceptre in his heart.

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As if a benevolent despot might not by any error of judgment destroy his kingdom, and then say, like Romeo when he got his friend killed,

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In a few months he gave up the task, and little more than a year later the people who had wept at the death of the great Protector, were madly rejoicing at the return of a despot.

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