Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

totalitarian

/ˌtoʊtəlɪˈtɛɹiən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.21 in modern English

Syllables: to-tal-i-tar-i-an
IPA: /ˌtoʊtəlɪˈtɛɹiən/

12

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

6

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of or relating to a system of government where the people have virtually no authority and the state wields absolute control of every aspect of the country, socially, financially, and politically.

noun

An advocate of totalitarianism.

Example Sentences

"The divine truth is stronger than totalitarian falsehoods."
"Only history can tell us where China will go from here. The Chinese leadership's brutal crackdown on students seeking fundamental democratic rights makes it difficult to chart the future. Those brave students who laid down their lives against the tanks of Tiananmen Square confirmed what I'd always believed: that no totalitarian society can bottle up the instinctive drive of men and women to be free, and that once you give a captive people a little freedom, they'll demand still more."
"Well, last night these two bouncers / And one of 'em's alright, the other one's the scary one / His way or no way, totalitarian"
"Had I travelled the same route by train (the Trans-Siberian Express, say), it would have taken me a week to get there - enough time to notice that the clocks at all the stations along the way (as well as at all other stations in the totalitarian USSR) stubbornly stuck to Moscow Time."

Etymology

From Italian totalitario (“complete, absolute, totalitarian”) + -an. Equivalent to totality + -arian.

Word Breakdown

Prefix: totality
Suffix: an, -arian

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌtoʊtəlɪˈtɛɹiən/
British English: /ˌtəʊtalɪˈtɛəɹiən/

Inflected Forms

more totalitarian (comparative) most totalitarian (superlative) totalitarians (plural)

Derived Forms

antitotalitarian brutalitarian globalitarian nontotalitarian totalitarianist totalitarianization totalitarianize

Frequently Paired Words

totalitarianism

Synonyms

totalistic

Rhymes With

humanitarian bulgarian marion hungarian authoritarian marian barbarian sectarian agrarian veterinarian bavarian egalitarian

Questions

How do you pronounce totalitarian?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌtoʊtəlɪˈtɛɹiən/.
What does totalitarian mean?: Of or relating to a system of government where the people have virtually no authority and the state wields absolute control of every aspect of the country, socially, financially, and politically.
Where does totalitarian come from?: From Italian totalitario (“complete, absolute, totalitarian”) + -an. Equivalent to totality + -arian.

How to pronounce totalitarian

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “totalitarian”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌtoʊtəlɪˈtɛɹiən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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