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autocracy

Definitions of Autocracy

  1. (noun) A political system governed by an individual (called an autocrat) with absolute and unrestricted authority and power; despotism.
  2. (noun) The unrestricted authority and power of an autocrat.
  3. (noun) A country, nation, or State ruled by an autocrat.

Example of Autocracy

Autocracy Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: au·toc·ra·cy

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /aw-tAHk-ruh-see/
  • British English – /aw-tOk-ruh-see/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ɔˈtɑkrəsi/
  • British English – /ɔːˈtɒkrəsi/

Usage Notes

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford Dictionaries. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. New York: Oxford University Press. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Autocracy

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “autocracy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/autocracy/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

autocracy. (2015). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/autocracy/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. “autocracy.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/autocracy/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“autocracy.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/autocracy/>.