: of or relating to a political regime based on subordination of the individual to the state and strict control of all aspects of the life and productive capacity of the nation especially by coercive measures (such as censorship and terrorism)
Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War and oversaw the demise of the totalitarian Soviet Union, offering freedom and hope. Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Aug. 2022 The battle is personal, but each woman’s fight has the power to become representative of the larger war between Gilead and Canada, which has become a safe haven for refugees from the totalitarian society. Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Aug. 2022 Blessed are the juicy, juicy fruits of murdering a totalitarian oppressor as Elisabeth Moss mounts yet another fiery uprising against Gilead in the new Handmaid's Tale season 5 trailer. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 24 Aug. 2022 Cheap tin pins were sold in street markets, allowing fashionable kids to accessorize backpacks and jackets with totalitarian trinkets. Hari Kunzru, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 Now, with the last influential clergyman silenced, Nicaragua has reached a milestone, according to human rights activists, former officials, and priests: cementing its position as a totalitarian state.BostonGlobe.com, 23 Aug. 2022 As far back as the Sixties, a cottage industry of books pointed at the United Nations as a front for totalitarian world government. Hari Kunzru, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022 Brennan, the business ethics professor, argued companies shouldn’t directly assist a totalitarian government, even if local laws compel them. Allison Morrow, CNN, 30 Mar. 2022 Romania became a Communist country in 1947, and Ms. Jacobi’s school years coincided with the rise of Nicolae Ceaușescu, who would become the nation’s dictator in 1968, turning it into a totalitarian state.New York Times, 19 July 2022
Noun
But that would not address the fundamental goal of the protests: to end the totalitarian stranglehold that has subjected the Cubans to an unbearable serfdom. Néstor T. Carbonell, National Review, 16 July 2021 And there’s another reason why totalitarians capable of horrific human rights violations are a real hosting nightmare. Sarah Todd, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019 Some of his most popular works were surrealistic fantasies set in grisly worlds run by totalitarians and conformists.Fox News, 28 June 2018 Some of Ellison's most popular works were surrealistic fantasies set in grisly worlds run by totalitarians and conformists. Robert Jablon, USA TODAY, 28 June 2018 Surveying the literary output of leaders from Lenin to Kim Jong-il, Kalder asks why so many totalitarians dabble in literature. Colin Dickey, The New Republic, 22 Mar. 2018 No reasonable purpose is served by using a term that lumps together totalitarians, autocrats, conservatives and democratic nationalists, as though these are all varieties of a single dark worldview. Yoram Hazony, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2017 Alas, the illiberal totalitarians who demanded that the American Conservative Union reverse course denied us a chance to find out. Osita Nwanevu, Slate Magazine, 12 Mar. 2017 That’s always true of violent radicals and would-be totalitarians. Jonah Goldberg, National Review, 18 Aug. 2017 See More