Definition of tyrant Tyrant
/tajˈɹʌnt/ - [tayrunt] - ty•rant
We found 19 definitions of tyrant from 8 different sources.
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What does tyrant mean?
WordNet
NounPlural: tyrants |
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| tyrant - a cruel and oppressive dictator | ||
| autocrat, despot | ||
| potentate, dictator a ruler who is unconstrained by law | ||
| tyrant - any person who exercises power in a cruel way; "his father was a tyrant" | ||
| mortal, somebody, someone, individual, person, soul a single organism | ||
| tyrant - in ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it | ||
| swayer, ruler a person who rules or commands; "swayer of the universe" | ||
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Wiktionary 
- tyrant (Noun)
An absolute ruler who governs without restriction. - tyrant (Noun)
A harsh and cruel ruler. - tyrant (Noun)
An oppressive, cruel and harsh person. - tyrant (Noun)
Any of numerous species of aggressive American clamatorial birds of the family Tyrannidae; a tyrant bird . - tyrant (Verb)
To act like a tyrant; to be tyrannical.
Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘
- tyrant (n.)
An absolute ruler; a sovereign unrestrained by law or constitution; a usurper of sovereignty. - tyrant (n.)
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. - tyrant (n.)
Any one of numerous species of American clamatorial birds belonging to the family Tyrannidae; -- called also tyrant bird. - tyrant (v. i.)
To act like a tyrant; to play the tyrant; to tyrannical.
OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω
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tyrant
In ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it. -
tyrant
Any person who exercises power in a cruel way. -
tyrant
A cruel and oppressive dictator.
Chambers DictionaryChamber's 20th Century Dictionary 📕
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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 DictionaryMilitary Dictionary and Gazetteer 💥
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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.
Wikipedia 
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A tyrant (pronounce: TIE-rant) is a person who rules in a very cruel way. He usually rules a country, and he often got his position as powerful ruler by force, although some of them inherited their power.
The rule of a tyrant is called tyranny (pronounce “TI-ran-nee”). The adjective is tyrannical.
When someone has power over everybody else so that nobody is allowed to question it, this is called absolute power. A tyrant rules by oppression. The people are oppressed (cruelly treated). A tyrant takes no notice of the wishes of the people, or of any constitutions (laws about how laws should be made).
The word despot means someone who rules with absolute authority, usually cruelly. It has the same meaning as "tyrant".
A dictator also rules with absolute authority. They are not necessarily cruel tyrants, but they often are.
In the 10th and 9th centuries BC Ancient Greece was ruled by monarchs. By the 7th century B.C. they were ruled by groups of aristocrats. These aristocrats started to become unpopular. This gave cruel people the chance to get power for themselves, telling the people that they would be good rulers, but turning bad once they got power.
Around 650BC the tyrant Cypselus became powerful in Corinth and Orthagoras at Sicyon. There were other tyrants in the Asiatic countries that were ruled by Greece. Cypselus’s son Periander was also a cruel tyrant who ruled for 40 years. The tyranny in Corinth came to an end after he died.
Many tyrants of ancient Greece were supporter
Part of speech
🔤- tyrant, noun, singular of tyrants.
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