tyrant

Meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
2. (obsolete) Any monarch or governor.
3. A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
4. (broadly) Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
5. (broadly) A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
6. The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.

Adj

Tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.

Verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To tyrannize.

Synonyms

despot

oppressor

dictator

autocrat

absolute ruler

potentate

conqueror

authoritarian

overlord

persecutor

tyrannical

tyrant flycatcher

usurp

usurper

vanquisher

victimizer

influential person

victor

absolute monarch

represser

brutal suzerain

ecuadorian tyrannulet

bad ruler

tyrant bird

victimiser

be chief

rufous-lored tyrannulet

autocracy

bully

domineer

fiend

leader

mogul

murderer

Translations

tyran

tiranno

Tyrann

tirano

tiran

tirano

τύραννος

tyrannus

tirà

dwingeland

geweldenaar

despota

Gewaltherrscher

Despot

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtaɪɹənt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tyraunt

Cognate with French: tyran

In summary

From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.