tyrannical

English

Alternative forms

• tyrannic

Etymology

From Latin tyrannicus + -al; ultimately from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) (absolute ruler, despot).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: tĭ-rănʹĭ-kəl, tī-, IPA^(key): /təˈrænəkəl/, /tiˈrænəkəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænɪkəl
• Hyphenation US: tyran‧ni‧cal, UK: tyr‧an‧nical

Adjective

tyrannical (comparative more tyrannical, superlative most tyrannical)

1. (not comparable) Of, or relating to tyranny or a tyrant.
2. (comparable) Despotic, oppressive, or authoritarian.

   a tyrannical regime

   tyrannical rulers

   • September 8 2022, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     She met more than a quarter of all the American presidents who have ever lived, five popes, hundreds of national leaders, from the saintly, such as Nelson Mandela, to the tyrannical, including Robert Mugabe and Nicolae Ceausescu […]

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:bossy

Derived terms

• tyrannical sadism

Translations

of, or relating to tyranny, of a tyrant

• Arabic: ظَالِم (ar) (ẓālim), غَاشِم (ḡāšim)
• Catalan: tirànic (ca)
• Czech: tyranský (cs)
• Dutch: tiranniek (nl)
• Finnish: tyrannimainen (fi)
• French: tyrannique (fr)
• Georgian: ტირანიული (ṭiraniuli)
• German: tyrannisch (de)
• Greek: τυραννικός (el) (tyrannikós)

  Ancient: τυραννικός (turannikós)

• Hungarian: zsarnoki (hu)
• Irish: ansmachtúil, aintiarnúil
• Italian: tirannico (it)
• Lithuanian: tironiškas
• Polish: tyrański (pl), tyraniczny (pl)
• Portuguese: tirano (pt), tirânico (pt)
• Romanian: tiranic (ro)
• Russian: тирани́ческий (ru) (tiraníčeskij), деспоти́чный (ru) (despotíčnyj)
• Spanish: tiránico (es), tirano (es)
• Swedish: tyrannisk (sv)
• Volapük: tirenik (vo), (♂♀) tirenanik, (♂) hitirenanik, (♀) jitirenanik

despotic, oppressive, authoritarian

• Arabic: ظَالِم (ar) (ẓālim), غَاشِم (ḡāšim)
• Catalan: tirànic (ca)
• Finnish: tyrannimainen (fi)
• Georgian: ტირანიული (ṭiraniuli)
• German: tyrannisch (de)
• Greek: τυραννικός (el) (tyrannikós)

  Ancient: τυραννικός (turannikós)

• Hindi: अत्याचारी (hi) (atyācārī), ज़ालिम (zālim), ज़ुल्मी (zulmī), सितमगर (hi) (sitamgar), जाबिर (jābir), नादिरी (hi) (nādirī), दराज़-दस्त (darāz-dast), दमनकारी (damankārī), दमनशील (hi) (damanśīl), जफ़ा-पेशा (jafā-peśā)
• Hungarian: kegyetlen (hu)
• Irish: ansmachtúil, aintiarnúil, tíoránta, anlathach
• Japanese: 横暴な (ja) (おうぼうな, ōbō na)
• Latin: imperiōsus
• Maori: ngarengare
• Middle English: tyrauntly
• Polish: tyraniczny (pl), tyrański (pl)
• Portuguese: tirano (pt), tirânico (pt)
• Romanian: opresiv (ro), tiranic (ro), despotic (ro)
• Russian: тирани́ческий (ru) (tiraníčeskij), деспоти́чный (ru) (despotíčnyj)
• Spanish: tiránico (es), tirano (es), de ordeno y mando
• Volapük: tirenik (vo)