tyranny
n. C / Un. a situation where a leader has total power and uses it in a cruel or unfair way. It can also describe any situation where you feel controlled by something you cannot change.
n. cruel and oppressive government or rule; the exercise of power in an arbitrary or unjust manner. Often used metaphorically to describe a dominant or overwhelming force.
The people finally rose up to end the leader's tyranny.
After decades of political tyranny, the nation struggled to establish a functioning democratic system.
The essay explores the tyranny of the clock in modern life, arguing that our rigid adherence to schedules has stifled natural human creativity.
Inherited from Middle English tirannye, from Old French tyrannie, from Medieval Latin tyrannia, tyrania, from Ancient Greek τυραννία (turannía, “tyranny”), from τύραννος (túrannos, “lord, master, sovereign, tyrant”).
Uncountable when referring to the abstract concept of oppression; countable when referring to specific instances or regimes.