DICTATOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dictator mean? 

• DICTATOR (noun)
  The noun DICTATOR has 3 senses:

1. a speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine

2. a ruler who is unconstrained by law

3. a person who behaves in a tyrannical manner

  Familiarity information: DICTATOR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DICTATOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):

speaker; talker; utterer; verbaliser; verbalizer (someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous))

Derivation:

dictate (say out loud for the purpose of recording)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A ruler who is unconstrained by law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dictator; potentate

Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):

ruler; swayer (a person who rules or commands)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dictator"):

shogun (a hereditary military dictator of Japan; the shoguns ruled Japan until the revolution of 1867-68)

strongman (a powerful political figure who rules by the exercise of force or violence)

autocrat; despot; tyrant (a cruel and oppressive dictator)

Instance hyponyms:

Duvalier; Francois Duvalier; Papa Doc (oppressive Haitian dictator (1907-1971))

Baby Doc; Duvalier; Jean-Claude Duvalier (son and successor of Francois Duvalier as president of Haiti; he was overthrown by a mass uprising in 1986 (born in 1951))

El Caudillo; Francisco Franco; Franco; General Franco (Spanish general whose armies took control of Spain in 1939 and who ruled as a dictator until his death (1892-1975))

Adolf Hitler; Der Fuhrer; Hitler (German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945))

Benito Mussolini; Il Duce; Mussolini (Italian fascist dictator (1883-1945))

Tojo; Tojo Eiki; Tojo Hideki (Japanese army officer who initiated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who assumed dictatorial control of Japan during World War II; he was subsequently tried and executed as a war criminal (1884-1948))

Derivation:

dictate (rule as a dictator)

dictatorial (characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty)

dictatorial (of or characteristic of a dictator)

dictatorship (a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person who behaves in a tyrannical manner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

authoritarian; dictator

Context example:

my boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime

Hypernyms ("dictator" is a kind of...):

oppressor (a person of authority who subjects others to undue pressures)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dictator"):

Big Brother (a totalitarian leader and invader of privacy)

disciplinarian; martinet; moralist (someone who demands exact conformity to rules and forms)

Derivation:

dictate (issue commands or orders for)

 Context examples 

Ancient astrologers called this an aspect of dictators,  but happily, January 12 marks a turning point.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The dictator, his two children, his secretary, and his wealth had all escaped them.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Astrologers have called that rare aspect the dictator’s aspect.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)