Question 1 · Quick check
tyrant
/ˈtaɪɹənt/
noun
Türkçe translations
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In plain English
- 01
noun
A cruel ruler who uses power unfairly.
- 02
noun
Extra detailA despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
Examples
Thus, the tyrant succeeded in conquering the kingdom.
We will not bend to the will of a tyrant.
At a glance
Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 5
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 5
- Synonyms
- 5
Deep Dive
noun
Extra meaningsAny monarch or governor.
A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
More examples
In context[…] a sad tyrant, as my friends the Democrats sometimes are.
Tyrannes...be but Gods scourges which he will cast into the fyre when he hath done with them.
Cassius... set tyrants over all Syria.
Related
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
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Nearby
Origin
noun
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.