Autocratically

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˈɔːt.əˌkɹæt.ɪk(.ə)liː/

Definitions

1. In a manner that emphasizes unilateral decision-making, authority is exercised without regard for collective input or opposition from others
2. A style of governance where one individual holds power and imposes measures without democratic discussion or agreement from subordinates
3. In a way that asserts control through absolute authority, devoid of any collaborative decision-making or participation from subordinates

Etymology: Autocratically is an adverb built from "autocratic" plus the suffix "-ally", which turns an adjective into an adverb of manner. The suffix has a long, layered ancestry: it comes from Latin "-ālis", passed into English through Old French and Middle English, while the "-ly" ending descends from an Old English form "-līċe" that goes back to a Germanic root meaning "body" or "form", the same stem that gives English "like" in its older sense of "having the shape of". The base word "autocratic" is older and more surprising in its roots. It combines the Greek "autos", meaning "self", with "kratos", meaning "power" or "rule", so an autocrat is literally someone who rules by their own authority alone. The same Greek elements also produced "democracy", "aristocracy" and "bureaucracy", which all share the "-cracy" ending. So "autocratically" describes acting in the manner of someone who holds unchecked, self-derived power, a word assembled from a Greek idea of self-rule and an English adverbial ending that once meant "in the shape of".

Synonyms: despotically, tyrannically

Antonyms: democratically, equitably