Tyrant

/ˈtaɪɹənt/ · noun

Meaning

(historical, Ancient Greece) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession..

Definitions by Sense

1. (historical, Ancient Greece) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
2. (obsolete) Any monarch or governor.
3. A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
4. (by extension) Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
5. (by extension) A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
6. The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
7. (uncommon) Tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.

Example Sentences

To proue him Tyrant, this reason may suffice, That Henry liueth still.

The reappearance of tyranny [in the 4th century BC] had many reasons... one of the main causes was the development of antagonism between rich and poor; tyrants came to power exploiting a social and political imbalance within the state.

Ancient Greek tyrannies appeared once more in great numbers with the breakdown of the polis in the period from the fourth to the second centuries [BC]. These later tyrannies tended to rely on a more narrow class base and to use a brutal military rule, and thus writers could use the words tyrant and tyranny, with their modern connotations of evil and cruelty, to describe them accurately.

Cassius... set tyrants over all Syria.

Tyrannes...be but Gods scourges which he will cast into the fyre when he hath done with them.

I am the Sonne of Marcus Cato, hoe. A Foe to Tyrants, and my Countries Friend.

Here is a Proclamation for a Prince: that proclaims him in whoſe name it is emitted [James II of England], to be the greateſt Tyrant that ever lived in the world, and their Revolt who have diſowned him to be the juſteſt that ever was.

They [viz., the Framers of the American Constitution] held England to be the freest and best-governed country in the world, but were resolved to avoid the weak points which had enabled King George III. to play the tyrant, and which rendered English liberty, as they thought, far inferior to that which the constitutions of their own States secured.

Synonyms for tyrant

Antonyms for tyrant

Related Words

Word Forms

• tyrants
• tyran
• tyranting
• tyranted

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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