authoritarian

Definitions

Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.

Relating to a government or system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite not constitutionally responsible to the public.

Examples

The citizens organized a protest against the government's increasingly authoritarian policies.

He grew up in an authoritarian household where questioning his parents was strictly forbidden.

Many historians argue that the regime's authoritarian nature eventually led to its collapse.

Synonyms

dictatorial autocratic tyrannical despotic totalitarian oppressive dogmatic

Antonyms

democratic liberal permissive egalitarian lenient tolerant collaborative