totalitarian state
- noun
- /ˌtoʊtəlˈtɛriən steɪt/
- Formal
- At both the institutional level and the individual level, churches in Eastern Europe experienced repression from the totalitarian state.
Obviously, after the wall came down about what life was like under that totalitarian state.
- Obviously, after the wall came down about what life was like under that totalitarian state.
- This is about a kind of dystopian version of Ireland where there is a totalitarian state.
- Whatever the government controls you, you have this group thing in this totalitarian state.
- Or is it just like a hopelessly simple answer of this is a complete disaster of a totalitarian state?
Examples
-
We are under a fascist government hell-bent on a totalitarian state.
Blog text (21) -
When people from totalitarian states extoll the merits of their authoritarian patterns, what have we to say of democracy?
Academic text (1995) -
You do not live in a totalitarian state, and your fundamental rights are not being taken away.
Blog text (9) -
To ignore that is to open the door for the totalitarian state.
Blog text (7) -
However, even in a totalitarian state, structures exist which are self-organized outside the institution of the state.
Academic text (1999) -
As educators, we cannot ignore the propaganda from totalitarian states.
Academic text (1995) -
The Soviet Union was an expansionist totalitarian state that threatened the post-World War II international order.
Academic text (2001) -
Not surprisingly, as citizens of a totalitarian state, Soviet researchers were forced to ascribe to the philosophical principles mentioned above.
Academic text (1992) -
That's the whole point of the totalitarian state is to break your will for freedom, your desire for freedom, break your ability to know that you're not free.
-
In a totalitarian state, citizens have little to no freedom and are constantly monitored by the government.
Synonyms
A government where one person or a small group has all power and does not allow political opposition
One person or a small group rules a country cruelly
A country where the government uses strict police control and spying to limit people's freedoms
A government that controls nearly all parts of people's lives and takes away personal freedom
A system where one person or small group has almost all political power
A government where one person or group has all power and rules cruelly
A government that controls almost all parts of people's lives by force
A government where one leader or a small group holds power and limits people's freedoms
A country ruled by leaders who tightly control people's lives and freedoms
How Controlling
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase’s meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'totalitarian' (relating to government control over all aspects of life) modifies 'state' (a nation), so a learner who knows both words can infer a country ruled by totalitarianism. This adjective+noun composition follows a straightforward compositional pattern across languages and involves no idiomatic shift, making it predictable.
Etymology
Totalitarian state comes from the idea of 'total' control. The word total means 'whole', and in the 20th century some rulers used this idea to try to control work, home and even what people thought. So, a totalitarian state means a government that tries to control all parts of life.