MEANING
Exercising power in a cruelly oppressive or arbitrary way.
Use it for
Domestic domination, abusive authority, freedom controlled by one person.Scale household power beyond mere sternness when coercion is sustained.
Words that belong together
- tyrannical guardian
- tyrannical rule
- tyrannical demands
On the page
The tyrannical guardian read every letter before she received it.
His tyrannical rule ended when the servants testified.
She recognized the same tyrannical demands beneath his newly polite voice.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- tyrannical
Usage notes
Primary category: gothic. Stronger than strict or demanding; implies serious abuse of authority, not ordinary disagreement. Comparative more tyrannical; superlative most tyrannical. Derived adverb tyrannically.
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