Idiom
tin-pot dictatorship
Meaning
A country ruled by a tin-pot dictator; an autocracy, especially one ruled by someone with delusions of grandeur.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The country is a tin-pot dictatorship with no real laws.”
“Our boss runs this office like a tin-pot dictatorship.”
“Nobody enjoys living in a tin-pot dictatorship with no human rights.”
“The citizens grew tired of living under a tin-pot dictatorship and finally demanded their freedom.”
“The local council operates like a tin-pot dictatorship where the chairman makes every tiny decision without asking anyone else.”
“Investors avoid the region because they fear the sudden, unfair rules typical of a tin-pot dictatorship.”
“Historians often describe the isolated nation as a tin-pot dictatorship, noting that the leader maintains control through fear and absurd displays of personal power.”
Examples
simple
“The country is a tin-pot dictatorship with no real laws.”
“Our boss runs this office like a tin-pot dictatorship.”
“Nobody enjoys living in a tin-pot dictatorship with no human rights.”
contextual
“The citizens grew tired of living under a tin-pot dictatorship and finally demanded their freedom.”
“The local council operates like a tin-pot dictatorship where the chairman makes every tiny decision without asking anyone else.”
“Investors avoid the region because they fear the sudden, unfair rules typical of a tin-pot dictatorship.”
complex
“Historians often describe the isolated nation as a tin-pot dictatorship, noting that the leader maintains control through fear and absurd displays of personal power.”
Origin
From the compound *tin-pot dictator* + *-ship*. The term derives from the 18th-century use of *tin-pot* to denote something cheap, flimsy, or of inferior quality, such as a vessel made from base metal rather than silver or iron.
Key words
- Updated