tyrants

[ty·rant]

If you accuse your parents of being tyrants, you are saying they abuse their control of you––they are cruel, overly restrictive of your freedoms, and unfair. A tyrant is a ruler who is cruel and unjust.

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

Noun
a cruel and oppressive dictator

Noun
any person who exercises power in a cruel way; "his father was a tyrant"

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

n.
An absolute ruler; a sovereign unrestrained by law or constitution; a usurper of sovereignty.

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.

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

v. i.
To act like a tyrant; to play the tyrant; to tyrannical.

Tyrant

Tyr"ant , n. [OE. tirant, tiraunt, tyraunt, OF. tiran, tirant (probably from confusion with the p. pr. of verbs), F. tyran, L. tyrannus, Gr. , originally, an absolute sovereign, but afterwards, a severe or cruel ruler.] 1. An absolute ruler; a sovereign unrestrained by law or constitution; a usurper of sovereignty. &hand; Free governments [in Greece] having superseded the old hereditary sovereignties (basilei^ai), all who obtained absolute power in a state were called tyrannoi, tyrants, or rather despots; -- for the term rather regards the irregular way in which the power was gained, whether force or fraud, than the way in which it was exercised, being applied to the mild Pisistratus, but not to the despotic kings of Persia. However, the word soon came to imply reproach, and was then used like our tyrant. Liddell & Scott. 2. 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. "This false tyrant, this Nero." Chaucer.

Love, to a yielding heart, is a king, but to a resisting, is a tyrant.

3. (Zo'94l.) Any one of numerous species of American clamatorial birds belonging to the family Tyrannid'91; -- called also tyrant bird. &hand; These birds are noted for their irritability and pugnacity, and for the courage with which they attack rapacious birds far exceeding them in size and strength. They are mostly plain-colored birds, but often have a bright-colored crown patch. A few species, as the scissorstail, are handsomely colored. The kingbird and pewee are familiar examples. Tyrant flycatcher (Zo'94l.), any one of numerous species of tyrants which have a flattened bill, toothed at the tip, and resemble the true flycatchers in habits. The Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax Acadicus) and the vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubineus) are examples. -- Tyrant shrike (Zo'94l.), any one of numerous species of American tyrants of the genus Tyrannus having a strong toothed bill and resembling the strikes in habits. The kingbird is an example.

Tyrant

Ty"rant , v. i. To act like a tyrant; to play the tyrant; to tyrannical. [Obs.] Fuller.

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

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

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Usage Examples

Fantastic tyrant of the amorous heart. How hard thy yoke, how cruel thy dart. Those escape your anger who refuse your sway, and those are punished most, who most obey.

Death is the tyrant of the imagination.

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

Cruelty is a tyrant that's always attended with fear.

Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom for himself.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant - Moammar Gaddafi. He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world - including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.

Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom.

Every one with this writ may be a tyrant if this commission be legal, a tyrant in a legal manner, also, may control, imprison, or murder any one within the realm.

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.

A truer image of the world, I think, is obtained by picturing things as entering into the stream of time from an eternal world outside, than from a view which regards time as the devouring tyrant of all that is.