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tyranny |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
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tyranny 1. a. government by a tyrant or tyrants; despotism b. similarly oppressive and unjust government by more than one person 2. a political unit ruled by a tyrant 3. (esp in ancient Greece) government by a usurper Tyranny Big Brother omnipresent leader of a totalitarian nightmare world. [Br. Lit.: 1984] rules Thebes with cruel decrees. [Gk. Lit.: Antigone] Austrian governor treats Swiss despotically; shot by Tell. [Ital. Opera: Rossini, William Tell, Westerman, 121–122] former porter sets himself up as dictator of a West Indies island and rules the natives with an iron hand. [Am. Drama: O’Neill Emperor Jones] oppresses Jerusalem by exaction of harsh taxes. [O. T.: II Kings 23: 33–35] mean, sadistic tyrant; epitome of human horridness. [Br. Lit.: Animal Farm] dictatorial ruler who orders subjects’ heads chopped off. [Br. Lit.: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland] bitterly repressed his people. [O. T.: I Kings 12:12-16]
Francis I’s symbol of absolute dictatorial power. [Animal Symbolism: Mercatante, 19] How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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A more complete imagination than Philip's might have pictured a youth of splendid hope, for he must have been entering upon manhood in 1848 when kings, remembering their brother of France, went about with an uneasy crick in their necks; and perhaps that passion for liberty which passed through Europe, sweeping before it what of absolutism and tyranny had reared its head during the reaction from the revolution of 1789, filled no breast with a hotter fire. "My children," said the Oldest and Wisest Ape in All the World, when he had heard the Deputation, "you did right in ridding yourselves of tyranny, but your tribe is not sufficiently advanced to dispense with the forms of monarchy. To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free: we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. |
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