tyrant
Plural: tyrants
Noun
- An absolute ruler, often one who uses power oppressively.
- a cruel and oppressive dictator
- in ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it
- any person who exercises power in a cruel way
- "his father was a tyrant"
- A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
- Any monarch or governor.
- A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
- 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
- To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
- To tyrannize.
Examples
- He played the board like a tyrant, blocking all potential scoring spots.
Origin / Etymology
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.
Synonyms
autocrat, despot, aisymnetes, archon, basileus, bee martin, dictator, king bird, martinet, tyrant bird, tyrant flycatcher, tyrant shrike
Scrabble Score: 9
tyrant: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtyrant: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
tyrant: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary