1. A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution, laws or opposition etc.)
   "The country suffered under a brutal absolutism for decades";
   - dictatorship, authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny
    
2. An ideological belief in the complete and unrestricted power of government
   "The regime's absolutism left no room for individual freedoms";
   - totalitarianism, totalism
    
3. Dominance through threat of punishment and violence
   "The dictator's absolutism crushed all opposition";
   - tyranny, despotism
    
4. The doctrine of an absolute being, often related to idealism in philosophy
   "The philosopher's absolutism posited the existence of universal truths"

Derived forms: absolutisms

Type of: ascendance, ascendancy, ascendence, ascendency, autarchy, autocracy, control, doctrine, dominance, ideology, ism, mythos, philosophical system, philosophy, political orientation, political theory, school of thought

Encyclopedia: Absolutism