dictatorship
/ˌdɪkˈteɪtəʃɪp/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌdɪkˈteɪtərʃɪp/ (ame, ipa) · /dik-ˈtā-tər-ˌship ˈdik-ˌtā-/ (ame, mw)
dictatorship — noun
- dictatorshipsingular
- dictatorshipsplural
1. a country in which a single person rules with total power — this leader is not c
a country in which a single person rules with total power — this leader is not chosen by the people in free elections, and no court or parliament can stop their decisions.
Imani fled the dictatorship after soldiers arrested her father for writing poetry.
collocation: fled + dictatorship
The journalist hid photographs of a protest inside her shoe and flew out of the dictatorship.
Foreign diplomats spent six weeks trying to get food aid past the dictatorship's checkpoints.
Hakim grew up in a dictatorship where watching foreign news could mean prison.
The old dictatorship collapsed when crowds filled the main square for nineteen days.
- autocracy
more formal; emphasises rule by one person above all others
- totalitarian state
a dictatorship that also controls media, education, and private life
- police state
stresses harsh surveillance and repression by security forces
- democracy
a country where leaders are chosen in free elections
文法句型
a + dictatorship
the dictatorship of + [leader name]
用法筆記
Countable. Names the country itself. Distinguish from sense 2 (ABSOLUTE RULE), which names the system or condition of rule, not a specific country.
常見錯誤
2. a system of government in which one person or a small inner circle holds total c
a system of government in which one person or a small inner circle holds total control, with no democratic institutions or independent courts to limit what they can do.
Professor Chen described how dictatorship took root after the parliament was dissolved.
collocation: dictatorship + took root
The activist watched soldiers burn a pile of newspapers and wrote that censorship is always the first tool of dictatorship.
Yuna compared military dictatorship with absolute monarchy in her research paper.
Under dictatorship, even a whispered joke about the leader can lead to arrest.
Soren interviewed families who had survived two decades of dictatorship and war.
- autocracy
more formal; stresses that one person holds all decision-making power
- despotism
highlights cruelty and oppression; the ruler treats the state as personal property
- totalitarianism
broader: a system that seeks to control every part of life, not just politics
- democracy
a system in which power is shared and leaders are elected
- constitutional government
rule limited by a written constitution and independent courts
文法句型
under + dictatorship
a + dictatorship
the rise of + dictatorship
用法筆記
Can be countable ('a military dictatorship') or uncountable ('living under dictatorship'). Distinguish from sense 1 (DICTATOR-RULED STATE), which names the country itself.