totalitarian

/,toutæli'teəriən/

Thân thiện

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to a system of government: Describes a political system where the state holds total authority over society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life. This control is typically maintained by a single party or leader, using ideology, propaganda, and often coercion.
   • Characterized by absolute control: Describes something that is centralized, dictatorial, and demands complete subservience to the state, suppressing individual freedom and opposition.

2. Noun:

   • A supporter of such a system: A person who advocates for or supports totalitarian principles or government.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The historian analyzed the totalitarian methods used to suppress dissent.
  • They lived under a totalitarian regime that controlled the media and education system.
  • The novel depicts a dystopian, totalitarian future.

• Noun:

  • He was denounced as a totalitarian for his extreme views on state control.
  • The party was founded by totalitarians who rejected democratic processes.

Advanced Usage

• Totalitarian state: A country governed by a totalitarian system.
  • Scholars debate whether the country evolved into a full totalitarian state.
• Totalitarian tendencies: Actions or policies that show a movement toward absolute control.
  • The new laws exhibited worrying totalitarian tendencies.

Variants and Related Words

• Totalitarianism (n): The political system or ideology itself.
  • Totalitarianism is often contrasted with authoritarianism, as it seeks to control thoughts, not just actions.
• Totalistic (adj): Functioning in a comprehensive, all-encompassing manner (a more general term sometimes used in similar contexts).

Synonyms

• Adjective: Authoritarian, dictatorial, autocratic, despotic, tyrannical, oppressive.
• Noun: Autocrat, dictator, despot.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Democratic, liberal, libertarian, pluralistic, free.
• Noun: Democrat, libertarian.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Cult of personality: A feature of many totalitarian systems where the leader is glorified and portrayed as infallible.
• Police state: A state where the government uses police power, especially secret police, to maintain rigid control, often associated with totalitarianism.
• State ideology: The official doctrine that a totalitarian government uses to justify its control and shape society.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. of or relating to the principles of totalitarianism according to which the state regulates every realm of life
   • totalitarian theory and practice
   • operating in a totalistic fashion
2. characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control
   • a totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul- Arthur M.Schlesinger, Jr.

Noun

1. an adherent of totalitarian principles or totalitarian government

Từ đồng nghĩa

• totalistic