Dear Leader

English

Alternative forms

• dear leader

Proper noun

Dear Leader

1. A title adopted by Kim Jong Il, the supreme leader of North Korea from 1994–2011.
   • 2011 December 18, Evan Osnos, “Kim Jong-il is Dead”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-30:

     Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s so-called Dear Leader, did not survive the year that opened with the Arab Spring.

   • 2013 October 25, Choe Sang-hun, “Following Dear Leader, Kim Jong-un Gets Title From University: Dr. Leader”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-04-08:

     North Korea has long been known for its love of titles for its leaders. Mr. Kim's grandfather, the nation's founder, was known as the Great Leader; his son, the Dear Leader. The country seems not yet to have decided on the same kind of moniker for Mr. Kim — settling for workaday titles like marshal of the military.

   • 2015 January 16, Anna Fifield, quoting Lee [pseudonym], “North Korea begins brainwashing children in cult of the Kims as early as kindergarten”, in The Washington Post‎^[3], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 August 2023:

     "The teachers would say: 'Do you know where the milk came from? It came from the Dear Leader. Because of his love and consideration, we are drinking milk today,' " said Lee, looking every bit a South Korean with her dyed hair and trendy sweater.

2. (by extension, ironic, derogatory) A nickname for Donald Trump (US president from 2017–2021), seen as engendering unthinking subservience among his followers.
   • 2017 January 16, Paul Krugman, “With All Due Disrespect”, in The New York Times‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-13:

     But patriotism means standing up for your country's values, not pledging personal allegiance to Dear Leader.

   • 2020 November 14, Terry H. Schwadron, “Trump gums up the transition works”, in Salon.com‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-05-05:

     Even as Trump commands a dwindling number of Republicans willing to say the election remains unsettled, his administration is stuck trying to carry out Dear Leader's wishes.

   • 2022 July 22, Lloyd Green, “Trump, modern Nero, watched the Capitol sacked from a White House dining room”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[6], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-05:

     Also on Tuesday, Arizona Republicans censured Rusty Bowers, a Republican and leader in the state's legislature, after he had testified last month before the committee and denied that Trump won Arizona. Fealty to "Dear Leader" remains a tribal litmus test.

Noun

Dear Leader (plural Dear Leaders)

1. (politics, ironic, derogatory) An authoritarian leader who demands unquestioning loyalty.
   • 2016 June 28, Tim Bale, “Jezza's Bezzas: Labour's New Members”, in The Huffington Post‎^[7], archived from the original on 2023-07-10:

     These people, then, are Jezza's bezzas - his praetorian guard, if you like. And - surely rather alarmingly if you are one of those Labour MPs who isn't content to hold your tongue - they seem open to using the prospect of deselection to ensure that there is a price to pay for badmouthing the dear leader.

   • 2016 November 23, Terry Glavin, “Terry Glavin: Trump and Trudeau, two entitled one-percenters who might get along much better than you think”, in National Post‎^[8], Toronto, Ont.: Postmedia Network Canada Corp., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 September 2023:

     Like Trump, Trudeau is less a leader than a mascot. Like Trump's following, Trudeau's following sometimes comes off like a Dear Leader cult. Like Trump, Trudeau routinely elicits in his political enemies an hysterical incoherence. As with Trump, it is not known whether Trudeau has ever met a dictator he didn't like.

   • 2021 July 7, Mark Moore, “Twitter suspends professor over posts mocking China’s Xi Jinping”, in New York Post‎^[9], New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-30:

     On Sunday, Brady said, Twitter temporarily suspended her account, to which she commented: "Seems one must never make fun of the Dear Leader."

   • 2022 November 20, Dave Schwartz, “Some suggestions for renaming Doug Ford's silly bills”, in Toronto Star‎^[10], Toronto, O.N.: Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:

     In fairness to MPs and MPPs of all political parties, it should be noted that blind servitude to the Dear Leader of the day is the price of career advancement in politics.