dictator

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A ruler who has complete power over a country, especially one who took it by force and rules cruelly.

   The country suffered for years under a brutal dictator.

2. 2
   noun

   A person who behaves in a bossy, controlling way and forces others to obey.

   My boss is a dictator who makes everyone work overtime.

From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”. Compare Old English tictator (“absolute ruler of the Roman Republic”).

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