The meaning of AUTHORITARIAN is of, relating to, or favoring blind submission to authority. How to use authoritarian in a sentence.

AUTHORITARIAN definition: 1. demanding that people obey completely and refusing to allow them freedom to act as they wish…. Learn more.

Apr 2, 2025 · Authoritarian regimes are systems of government that have no established mechanism for the transfer of executive power and do not afford their citizens civil liberties or political rights. Power is concentrated in the hands of a single leader or a small elite, whose decisions are taken without regard for the will of the people.

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law.

1. of, favoring, or requiring complete obedience to authority: an authoritarian military code. 2. pertaining to or being a government in which authority is centered in one person or in a small group not constitutionally accountable to the people. 3. exercising control over the will of others: an authoritarian parent. n.

If your teacher orders you to detention every time you show up to class with a dull pencil, you could probably describe her as an authoritarian — a ruler who prefers order to freedom.

of or relating to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state, centered …

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word authoritarian. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

If you describe a person or an organization as authoritarian, you are critical of them controlling everything rather than letting people decide things for themselves. They were living under an authoritarian regime.

AUTHORITARIAN definition: favouring , denoting, or characterized by strict obedience to authority | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples in American English