tyrannize

English

Alternative forms

• tyrannise (non-Oxford British English)

Etymology

From Middle French tyranniser, equivalent to tyranny +‎ -ize.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪɹ.ən.aɪz/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Verb

tyrannize (third-person singular simple present tyrannizes, present participle tyrannizing, simple past and past participle tyrannized)

1. (transitive) To oppress (someone).
   • 1929, Edgar Wallace, “The Tyrant of the House”, in The Iron Grip‎^[1], London: George Newnes:

     In truth he was the type of man who is spoilt by the submission of weaker people than himself. There are such men, who must either be tyrannized or be tyrants […]

   • 2001, Breena Clarke, “Roots of Success” (review of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker by A’Lelia Bundles), Chicago Tribune, 18 February, 2001,^[2]

     I spent the first 18 years of my life tyrannized by a red-hot hair-pressing comb. Well, maybe tyrannized is an exaggeration. But covering your ears while hot grease sizzles nearby is not a young girl's idea of a fun time.

2. (intransitive) To rule as a tyrant.

   The prince tyrannized over his subjects.

   • 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     What? will they tyrannize vpon the Church?

   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Ah, Rome! Well, well; I made thee miserable
     What time I threw the people’s suffrages
     On him that thus doth tyrannize o’er me.

   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 24:

     […] lest som should perswade ye, Lords and Commons, that these arguments of lerned mens discouragement at this your order, are meer flourishes, and not reall, I could recount what I have seen and heard in other Countries, where this kind of inquisition tyrannizes […]

   • 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Parental Affection”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 344:

     Parental affection, indeed, in many minds, is but a pretext to tyrannize where it can be done with impunity, for only good and wise men are content with the respect that will bear discussion.

   • 2020, Michael Pompeo, “Communist China and the Free World’s Future”, in U. S. Department of State‎^[3]:

     General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forever, unless we allow it.

Translations

oppress someone

• Bulgarian: тиранизирам (bg) (tiraniziram)
• Catalan: tiranitzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 限制 (zh) (xiànzhì), 壓迫／压迫 (zh) (yāpò)

• Finnish: sortaa (fi)
• French: tyranniser (fr)

  Middle French: tyranniser

• German: tyrannisieren (de)
• Greek: τυραννώ (el) (tyrannó)
• Hungarian: zsarnokoskodik (hu), hatalmaskodik (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål tyrannisere

  Nynorsk tyrannisera, tyrannisere

• Portuguese: tiranizar (pt)
• Russian: тира́нить (ru) (tiránitʹ)
• Spanish: tiranizar (es)
• Swedish: tyrannisera (sv)
• Ukrainian: тиранити (tyranyty)

rule as a tyrant

• Greek: τυραννώ (el) (tyrannó)
• Hungarian: zsarnokoskodik (hu)
• Portuguese: tiranizar (pt)