Skip to content

despote

despot, tyrant

noun des-POT Rare
People & Society Government

Origin: Greek 'despotēs' (master, lord)

Usage Note

Despote can be masculine or feminine (le/la despote) and refers to an absolute ruler who governs by force, or more loosely to any overbearing, tyrannical person. The related adjective despotique ('despotic') and noun despotisme ('despotism') are common in political writing; despote éclairé ('enlightened despot') is a set phrase from 18th-century political philosophy.

Examples

"Ce chef se comporte comme un despote."

Natural Translation

That leader behaves like a despot.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic