Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun despotism

2 senses of despotism

Sense 1
absolutism, tyranny, despotism -- (dominance through threat of punishment and violence)
       => dominance, ascendance, ascendence, ascendancy, ascendency, control -- (the state that exists when one person or group has power over another; "her apparent dominance of her husband was really her attempt to make him pay attention to her")

Sense 2
dictatorship, absolutism, authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny -- (a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.))
       => autocracy, autarchy -- (a political system governed by a single individual)