Definitions for tyrant
ˈtaɪ rənttyrant

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. tyrant, autocrat, despotnoun

   a cruel and oppressive dictator

2. tyrantnoun

   in ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it

3. tyrantnoun

   any person who exercises power in a cruel way

   "his father was a tyrant"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. tyrantnoun

   An absolute ruler who governs without restriction.

2. tyrantnoun

   A harsh and cruel ruler.

3. tyrantnoun

   An oppressive, cruel and harsh person.

4. Etymology: From tirant (French tyran), from tyrannus, from τύραννος.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. TYRANTnoun

   Etymology: τύραννος; tyrannus, Latin. Rowland contends that this word, with the correspondent Greek and Latin, is derived from tir, Welch and Erse, land, and rhanner, Welch, to share, q. d. tirhanner, a sharer, or divider of and among his vassals.

   1. An absolute monarch governing imperiously.2. A cruel despotick and severe master; an oppressor.

   Love to a yielding heart is a king, but to a resisting is a tyrant. Philip Sidney, b. i.

   I would not be the villain that thou think’st,
   For the whole space that’s in the tyrant ’s grasp,
   And the rich east to boot. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   Dissembling courtesy! how fine this tyrant
   Can tickle where she wounds! William Shakespeare, Cymb.

   The house of woe, and dungeon of our tyrant. John Milton.

   Consider those grand agents and lieutenants of the devil, by whom he scourges and plagues the world under him, to wit, tyrants; and was there ever any tyrant who was not also false and perfidious! Robert South, Sermons.

   Thou meant’st to kill a tyrant, not a king. Dryden.

   When tyrant custom had not shackl’d man,
   But free to follow nature was the mode. James Thomson.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Tyrant

   A tyrant (from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) 'absolute ruler'), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means. The original Greek term meant an absolute sovereign who came to power without constitutional right, yet the word had a neutral connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods. However, Greek philosopher Plato saw tyrannos as a negative word, and on account of the decisive influence of philosophy on politics, Plato deemed tyranny the “fourth and worst disorder of a state.” Tyrants lack “the very faculty that is the instrument of judgment”—reason. The tyrannical man is enslaved because the best part of him (reason) is enslaved, and likewise, the tyrannical state is enslaved, because it too lacks reason and order. Its negative connotations only increased, continuing into the Hellenistic period.The philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined a tyrant as a person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others. The Encyclopédie defined the term as a usurper of sovereign power who makes "his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws". In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant, one who had the support of the military, arose – specifically in Sicily.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Tyrantnoun

   an absolute ruler; a sovereign unrestrained by law or constitution; a usurper of sovereignty

2. Tyrantnoun

   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

3. Tyrantnoun

   any one of numerous species of American clamatorial birds belonging to the family Tyrannidae; -- called also tyrant bird

4. Tyrantverb

   to act like a tyrant; to play the tyrant; to tyrannical

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Tyrant

   A tyrant, in its modern English usage, is a ruler of a cruel and oppressive character who is an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution, and/or one who has usurped legitimate sovereignty. The original Greek term, however, merely meant an authoritarian sovereign without reference to character, bearing no pejorative connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods, though it was clearly a bad word to Plato, and on account of the decisive influence of political philosophy its negative connotations only increased down into the Hellenistic period, becoming synonymous with "Authenteo" - another term which carried authoritarian connotations around the turn of the first century A.D. Plato and Aristotle define a tyrant as, "one who rules without law, looks to his own advantage rather than that of his subjects, and uses extreme and cruel tactics—against his own people as well as others". During the seventh and sixth centuries BC, tyranny was often looked upon as an intermediate stage between narrow oligarchy and more democratic forms of polity. However, in the late fifth and fourth centuries, a new kind of tyrant, the military dictator, arose, specifically in Sicily.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Tyrant

   tī′rant, n. one who uses his power arbitrarily and oppressively: (orig.) an absolute monarch or irresponsible magistrate with unlimited powers or an overruling influence.—v.t. to tyrannise over.—n. Ty′ran (Spens.), a tyrant.—v.t. to play the tyrant over.—n. Tyr′anness (Spens.), a female tyrant.—adjs. Tyran′nic, -al, Tyr′annous, pertaining to or suiting a tyrant: unjustly severe: imperious: despotic.—advs. Tyran′nically, Tyr′annously.—n. Tyran′nicalness.—adj. Tyran′nicidal.—n. Tyran′nicide, the act of killing a tyrant: one who kills a tyrant.—n.pl. Tyran′nidæ, a family of Passerine birds, the typical genus Tyran′nus, the tyrant-birds or tyrant-flycatchers.—v.i. Tyr′annise, to act as a tyrant: to rule with oppressive severity.—v.t. to act the tyrant to.—adj. Tyr′annish.—n. Tyr′anny, the government or authority of a tyrant: absolute monarchy cruelly administered: oppression: cruelty: harshness. [O. Fr. tirant (Fr. tyran)—L. tyrannns—Gr. tyrannos (Doric koiranos).]

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. tyrant

   A name given in modern times to an arbitrary and oppressive ruler, but originally applied, not necessarily to one who exercised power badly, but merely to one who had obtained it illegally, and therefore equivalent to our word usurper. If the one who thus rose to power as a “tyrant” happened to be a man of sense, and wisdom, and generosity, his “tyranny” might prove a blessing to a state torn by the animosities of selfish oligarchs, and be the theme of praise in after-ages, as was the case with the “tyrannies” of Pesistratos, Gelon, and others; but if he was insolent, rapacious, and cruel, then he sought to reduce the citizens to a worse than Egyptian bondage, and his name became infamous to all time. Such has been the fate of most of the “Thirty Tyrants of Athens.” It was the method of exercising authority pursued by these and similar usurpers that latterly, even in ancient times, gave the word tyrant that evil significance it has ever since uninterruptedly retained.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. tyrantverb

   Meaning throwing a tirant {similar to tantrum}

   She was throwing a tirant

   
   

   Submitted by bcj2002.ca on June 8, 2022  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. tyrant

   Song lyrics by tyrant -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by tyrant on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Dictator
   • Person
   • Ruler

How to pronounce tyrant?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say tyrant in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of tyrant in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of tyrant in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of tyrant in a Sentence

1. Marquis de Sade:

   What does one want when one is engaged in the sexual act That everything around you give you its utter attention, think only of you, care only for you...every man wants to be a tyrant when he fornicates.

2. John Heubusch:

   Thirty years later, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is fighting a tyrant who is trying to glue the Soviet Union back together.

3. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

   He has made it clear that the U.S. is the Great Satan and that Iran intends to destroy the state of Israel. This will not happen. Israel is a strong country and it will become even stronger, however, the conclusion that arises from the remarks of the tyrant in Tehran is that all responsible countries must cooperate in order to stop Iran's terrorism and aggression which, to my regret, will only increase as a result of the agreement.

4. Victor Hugo, Les Miserables:

   Babylon violated diminishes Alexander; Rome enslaved diminishes Caesar; massacred Jerusalem diminishes Titus. Tyranny follows the tyrant. Woe to the man who leaves behind a shadow that bears his form.

5. Barbara Tuchman:

   Every successful revolution puts on in time the robes of the tyrant it has deposed.

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