(n.) An absolute ruler; a sovereign unrestrained by law or constitution; a usurper of sovereignty.
(n.) Specifically, a monarch, or other ruler or master, who uses power to oppress his subjects; a person who exercises unlawful authority, or lawful authority in an unlawful manner; one who by taxation, injustice, or cruel punishment, or the demand of unreasonable services, imposes burdens and hardships on those under his control, which law and humanity do not authorize, or which the purposes of government do not require; a cruel master; an oppressor.
(n.) Any one of numerous species of American clamatorial birds belonging to the family Tyrannidae; -- called also tyrant bird.
(v. i.) To act like a tyrant; to play the tyrant; to tyrannical.
Example Sentences:
(1) The fall of a tyrant is usually the cause of popular rejoicing followed by public vengeance.
(2) While the Spielberg of popular myth is Mr Nice Guy, Lean was known as an obsessive, cantankerous tyrant who didn't much like actors and was only truly happy locked away in the editing suite.
(3) "Sometimes a handshake is just a handshake, but when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raúl Castro , it becomes a propaganda coup for the tyrant," said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Republican Congress member in Florida, told the US secretary of state, John Kerry.
(4) One of the two last strongholds of Gaddafi loyalists, the town of Bani Walid, has finally been contained, Libya's interim government has claimed, leaving only parts of the ousted tyrant's birthplace out of rebel reach.
(5) So long as tyrants and terrorists chase innocents around the globe, we must offer them refuge.
(6) Thinking the fatwa was little more than the empty threat of a faraway tyrant, Theroux called out to Rushdie: "Next week we'll be back here for you!"
(7) The phrase "time to water the tree of liberty" - a reference to a famous quotation from Thomas Jefferson, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" - is also frequently used by a right wing group called Stormfront , motto White Pride World Wide.
(8) Its words are an attack on tyrants and despots, and a call for liberty.
(9) He is a tyrant and he needs to be expelled from the newspaper."
(10) Other tyrants, including, Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, appeared equally unconcerned about the ICC.
(11) Fearful of an imminent military breakthrough by Iran, the agency passed on Iranian troop positions to the Iraqi tyrant, " fully aware that Hussein's military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin ".
(12) "The Tyrant's In His Pants," said the Sun's headline, while the Post opted for "Butcher of Sagdad" against an image of Hussein wearing nothing more than a pair of white Y-fronts.
(13) A toy autocracy may easily invite a real one; it was recently revealed that nuclear war would have made the monarch a genuine tyrant with the power to appoint a prime minister without an election, although it is hard to imagine Elizabeth II – with her rugs bearing a knitted royal crest, and her tiny dogs – as Gaius Julius Caesar.
(14) On the face of it, algorithms – "step-by-step procedures for calculations" – seem unlikely candidates for the role of tyrant.
(15) He might, according to people who know him, be a nerdy academic, but he was also a tyrant, according to Blanchflower , a “my way or the highway” boss who ran the place with an iron fist.
(16) If we’re supposed to become nails in the coffin of a tyrant, I’d like to become one of those nails.
(17) Devout Muslims consider it a sacrilege for infidels to depose a Muslim tyrant and occupy Muslim lands — no matter how well intentioned the infidels or malevolent the tyrant.
(18) Mobutu Nzanga said he is proud of his father, despite the commonly held view that he was a kleptocratic tyrant.
(19) The letter says : “As rabbis and cantors we regularly read the story of a band of refugees who escaped from a tyrant with only the clothes on their backs and a bit of flat bread.
(20) In a video posted on social media on Sunday, a man purporting to be Shekau addresses the “tyrants of Nigeria in particular and the west of Africa in general,” saying: “You broadcast the news and published it in your media outlets that you injured me and killed me, and here I am.” The speaker says: “I will not be killed until my time comes.” Last month, Nigeria’s air force said it had killed senior members of Boko Haram and that Shekau had been injured .
Usurper
Definition:
(n.) One who usurps; especially, one who seizes illegally on sovereign power; as, the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron.
Example Sentences:
(1) If I invoked the Insurrection Act against her wishes, the world would see a male Republican president usurping the authority of a female Democratic governor by declaring an insurrection in a largely African American city.
(2) The ease of movement this afforded him allowed him to usurp three ports – at Ras Lanuf, Zeitina and Sidra – and remain in control.
(3) Balfe's role has now been usurped by key ministers – including Francis Maude and Oliver Letwin in the Cabinet Office, and Danny Alexander in the Treasury – and finishes after the Conservative party conference next month, when he will deliver a memo to Cameron on his recommendations for the future.
(4) The previous indication of limb-threatening ischemia has been usurped by distal arterial reconstruction.
(5) Rejecting suggestions that he had been usurped by Clegg as the candidate for change, he said it was his party that wanted to elect police commissioners, create active citizens and tackle poverty at source.
(6) In a country where gender inequality is entrenched, this is how easy it is for a well-known man to usurp the role of victim.
(7) Are Panathinaikos going to jump out and usurp one of these teams' place in the final?
(8) While many employees feel disillusioned and “oppressed” as they feel their jobs and responsibilities are being usurped by Charles’ aides, she claims.
(9) An estimated £810m was spent online by British shoppers on Friday, according to internet retail experts IMRG, a figure that eclipsed the £650m splurge predicted for Cyber Monday, and potentially means Boxing Day has been usurped as the biggest shopping day of the year once store sales are taken into account.
(10) David Cameron has accused him of cowardice, his mandarins are being accused of bias and UK ministers are trying to usurp his role as Scotland's most influential ambassador.
(11) Dave Archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribal council, called the executive order “a menacing action meant to cause fear” and “a blatant attempt by the state and local officials to usurp and circumvent federal authority”.
(12) Finally, the need for psychiatric expert witnesses has increased because courts have gradually usurped some psychiatric clinical prerogatives and because there has been a trend toward greater consideration of emotional pain and suffering.
(13) Those who claim that conversion or rejection of faith is punishable by death are effectively - and this ought to give their pious hearts pause for reflection - usurping powers reserved solely for God.
(14) Also teams who win the Champions League or Europa League but finish outside the qualifying places in their domestic campaign will no longer usurp one of their league rivals to take up their place the following season.
(15) This dysphonia can occur as a compensation for anatomic or physiologic alterations within the larynx (vicarious type) or as isolated ventricular fold hypertrophy unaccompanied by other obvious laryngeal disorders (usurpative type).
(16) The Labour party hopes to change this next year: if all goes according to plan, local lass Lee Sherriff will usurp John Stevenson, the Tory who – to his own obvious surprise – managed to interrupt 45 years of unbroken red rule in Carlisle by getting elected in 2010.
(17) More than this, he has one incontrovertible advantage over anyone who might think about usurping him: he is a Kim.
(18) Oh God, deal with the usurpers and oppressors and tyrannical Jews.
(19) Everyone knows that there are two Milibands, and Westminster obsessives have long lipped their lips at the Oedipal prospect of Ed the younger usurping David the elder.
(20) Just as the house of Lancaster was toppled by the house of York, so, at the beginning of Game of Thrones, has the ruling dynasty of the Targaryens been toppled by a usurper, Robert Baratheon.