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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dictator
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
military
▪ Recent revelations about the scale of theft by Sani Abacha, a previous military dictator, leaves one speechless.
▪ Augusto Pinochet, a military dictator who took power in a 1973 coup.
▪ The country has been ruled for much of the time since then by military dictators.
▪ Only one president served a full term before turning over the office to another military dictator.
▪ Replacing one military dictator with another is a recipe for continuing repression and instability.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
dictators of fashion
▪ Pinochet was a military dictator who took power in a 1973 coup.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ By the mid 1930s, he had begun to rule as a royal dictator without the benefit of independent counsel.
▪ He was, simultaneously, a loving father and sensitive poet and a ruthless dictator who presided over a reign of terror.
▪ The dictator was indeed inside the tramcar.
▪ They know that the removal of the dictator who so brutalised their community has weakened their claim for total independence.
▪ When a dictator decides to liberalise his regime he increases his chances of being ousted.
▪ You can't have 1050 dictators.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dictator

Dictator \Dic*ta"tor\, n. [L.]

  1. One who dictates; one who prescribes rules and maxims authoritatively for the direction of others.
    --Locke.

  2. One invested with absolute authority; especially, a magistrate created in times of exigence and distress, and invested with unlimited power.

    Invested with the authority of a dictator, nay, of a pope, over our language.
    --Macaulay.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dictator

late 14c., from Latin dictator, agent noun from dictare (see dictate (v.)). Transferred sense of "one who has absolute power or authority" in any sphere is from c.1600. In Latin use, a dictator was a judge in the Roman republic temporarily invested with absolute power.

Wiktionary
dictator

n. 1 Originally, a magistrate without colleague in republican ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the senate (legislature), typically to conduct a war 2 A totalitarian leader of a country, nation, or government 3 A tyrannical boss, or authority figure 4 A person who dictates text (e.g. letters to a clerk) 5 A ruler or Führer, the highest level of authority.

WordNet
dictator
  1. n. a speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine

  2. a ruler who is unconstrained by law [syn: potentate]

  3. a person behaves in an tyrannical manner; "my boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime" [syn: authoritarian]

Wikipedia
Dictator

A dictator is a ruler who wields absolute authority. A state ruled by a dictator is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in the Roman Republic appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency (see Roman dictator and justitium).

Like the term " tyrant" (which was originally a respectable Ancient Greek title), and to a lesser degree " autocrat", "dictator" came to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive, even abusive rule, yet had rare modern titular use.

In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds and/or abuses an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly. Dictatorships are often characterised by some of the following traits: suspension of elections and of civil liberties; proclamation of a state of emergency; rule by decree; repression of political opponents without abiding by rule of law procedures; these include one-party state, and cult of personality.

The term "dictator" is comparable to but not synonymous with the ancient concept of a tyrant; initially "tyrant", like "dictator", did not carry negative connotations. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as military juntas, one-party states and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators. They may hold left or right-wing views, or may be apolitical.

Dictator (novel)

Dictator is the fourth novel of the Samuel Carver series by English thriller writer, Tom Cain, released on 5 August 2010 through Bantam Press.

Dictator (disambiguation)

A dictator is a ruler who does not rule through democratic means.

Dictator may also refer to:

Dictator (Centerfold song)

"Dictator" is a 1986 song by Dutch female group Centerfold. The song was written by Centerfold member Rowan Moore, together with Peter van Asten and Richard de Bois. It was a huge hit in the Netherlands, reaching Number 6 in the Dutch Top 40 on 24 May 1986. It also appears on their debut album Man's Ruin.

Dictator (Harris novel)

Dictator is a historical novel by British author Robert Harris. It is the sequel to Lustrum and the final volume of a trilogy about the life of Cicero (106–43 BC). It is something of a biography of Cicero and also a tapestry of Rome in the days of Pompey, Crassus, Cato, Caesar, Clodius and ultimately Octavian.

"Thus Imperium (2006) describes the rise to power, Lustrum (2009) the years in power and Dictator (2015) the repercussions of power."

Dictator (2016 film)

Dictator is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action film, jointly produced by Eros International and Sriwass under Vedhaaswa Creations banner, directed by Sriwass. The film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna, Anjali, Sonal Chauhan in the lead roles and music is composed by S. Thaman. It is the 99th movie in the career of Nandamuri Balakrishna. The film's script was written by Sridhar Seepana, Gopimohan and Kona Venkat while the dialogues were written by M. Ratnam. The movie had released on January 14, 2016 as Sankranthi Release. The movie is released also in Tamil and Malayalam as dubbed version simultaneously.

Usage examples of "dictator".

But Adams did like the children and hugely enjoyed observing them: I sometimes, in my sprightly moments, consider myself, in my great chair at school, as some dictator at the head of a commonwealth.

The special units were under his personal control and all the officers were Alawites, former peasants like him and the dictator, men who owed their good fortune in life entirely to him.

Dictator of Albania for the last three years and soon to crown himself King Zog I.

He sails from Brundusium to Greece 243 He besieges Pompey at Dyrrhachium 244 Is compelled to retire 241 Battle of Pharsalia, and defeat of Pompey 244 Pompey flies to Egypt 245 His death 245 Caesar is appointed Dictator a second time 245 The Alexandrine War 245 47.

What if I could secure a guarantee from Catilina that after he is Dictator in Rome, the Allobroges are awarded full possession of all the Rhodanus Valley north of, say, Valentia?

Cincinnatus at length having prayed to the immortal gods, that his old age might not prove a detriment or disgrace to the republic at so dangerous a juncture, is appointed dictator by the consul: he himself then appoints Caius Servilius Ahala his master of the horse.

Appius Claudius, because he had dissuaded the law, and now with greater authority blamed the issue of a measure which had been found fault with by himself, the consul Servilius appoints dictator by the general wish of the patricians, and a levy and cessation of business are procaimed.

She recognised Generalissimo Hernandez, but at close quarters this rotund little man in his braided, bemedalled uniform looked even less like a dictator than he had in the photograph Major Fairhaven had shown her.

The fierce struggle which for the better part of a year had been raging between the forces of the Dictator Balmaceda and those of the Opposition or Congressionalist Party, as they were more usually called, had at length reached such a pitch that it required but one more vigorous battle to find a termination.

Aulus Cornelius Cossus having been elected dictator, nominated Titus Quinctius Capitolinus his master of the horse.

Not the kind that replaces one dictator with another, or one crackbrain economic scheme for a different one, but a real one.

He further argued that, in the absence of a US demarche to Athens, warning the dictators to desist, it might be assumed that the United States was indifferent to this.

They did so because of economic and geopolitical interests and they usually installed rabid dictators in place of the deposed elected functionaries.

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua set the stage for the dictators Batista, Trujillo, the Duvaliers, and the Somozas, whose legacies still reverberate.

The Kentuckian knew there had to be a clash in the Senate with Baker, who was foolishly spoiling for war and was all too ready to vote Lincoln the powers of a dictator.