Authoritarian

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɔːˌθɒɹ.ɪˈtɛə̯.ɹɪən/

Definitions

1. A system of governance or leadership that concentrates power in the hands of a single person or small group and demands obedience without allowing individual freedoms or democratic participation
2. A form of rule or leadership that centralizes power in one person or small group while suppressing individual liberties and rejecting democratic input from the governed
3. A style of governance or authority that prioritizes absolute obedience and control over personal freedoms by concentrating decision-making power in the hands of a few

Etymology: Authoritarian is a relatively recent coinage: it appeared around 1880, long after "authority" had settled into English. The word is built from "authority" with the suffix "-arian," which English took from Latin "-arius" through Old French and Middle English. That suffix forms words for people or things connected with something, as in "librarian" or "humanitarian," and it is the same ending that gives "authoritarian" its sense of someone who favours a particular system of rule. "Authority" has a long pedigree of its own. It descends from Latin "auctoritas," a noun built on "auctor," meaning originator, promoter or guarantor, which itself comes from the verb "augere," to increase or make grow. An authority, in the original Latin sense, was the power to make something happen or to lend legitimacy to it. The word's core idea of being the source of a thing is still visible in its modern use.

Synonyms: dictatorial, oppressive, tyrannical, despotic, totalitarian

Antonyms: democratic, liberal, permissive, lenient, free