MEANING
To rule or exercise control over others in an arbitrary, cruel, or oppressive way.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- tyrannize over a household
- tyrannize over others
On the page
He tyrannized over the household through unpredictable punishments.
The story’s ruler tyrannized over people who could not safely leave.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- tyrannize
- Past tense
- tyrannized
- Past participle
- tyrannized
- Present participle
- tyrannizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- tyrannize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are tyrannizing
- Present perfect
- have/has tyrannized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been tyrannizing
- Past
- tyrannized
- Past continuous
- was/were tyrannizing
- Past perfect
- had tyrannized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been tyrannizing
- Future
- will tyrannize
- Future continuous
- will be tyrannizing
- Future perfect
- will have tyrannized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been tyrannizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: tyrannize; tyrannizes; tyrannized; tyrannized; tyrannizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: tyrannizes.
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