English Explanatory Dictionary

tyrant

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
  2. Any monarch or governor.
  3. A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  4. Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  5. A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
  6. The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.
adj
  1. Tyrannical, tyrannous; like, characteristic of, or in the manner of a tyrant.
verb
  1. To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
  2. To tyrannize.

Pronunciation

/ˈtaɪɹənt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tyrant.wav

Word forms

tyrant tyrants tyran tyranting tyranted

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

archon basileus aisymnetes autocrat dictator despot martinet tyrant bird tyrant flycatcher tyrant shrike king bird bee martin

Related words

tyranness tyrannical tyrannicide tyrannize tyrannous tyranny tyrantry tyrantship

Derived words

black-backed water tyrant chat-tyrant ground tyrant pygmy tyrant shrike-tyrant tit-tyrant tody-tyrant tyrancy tyrant-air tyrant-bird tyrant-chat tyrant-craft tyrantess tyrant-fish tyrant flycatcher tyrant-hater tyrant-hating tyranthood tyrant-killer tyrant-killing tyrant-kind tyrantless tyrantlike tyrant-manakin tyrant-murder Tyrant period tyrant-queller tyrant-quelling tyrant-ridden tyrant-scouraging tyrant-shrike tyrant-slayer tyrant-tamer tyrant-wren wagtail-tyrant

Translations

Catalan: tirà Finnish: tyranni Middle English: tyraunt Russian: тира́н Spanish: tirano
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