From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdictatordic‧ta‧tor /dɪkˈteɪtə $ ˈdɪkteɪtər/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 PGOa ruler who has complete power over a country, especially one whose power has been gained by force the downfall of the hated dictator2 TELL/ORDER somebody TO DO somethingsomeone who tells other people what they should do, in a way that seems unreasonable a real little dictator
Examples from the Corpus
dictator• You can't have 1050 dictators.• dictators of fashion• When a dictator decides to liberalise his regime he increases his chances of being ousted.• Pinochet was a military dictator who took power in a 1973 coup.• By the mid 1930s, he had begun to rule as a royal dictator without the benefit of independent counsel.• He was, simultaneously, a loving father and sensitive poet and a ruthless dictator who presided over a reign of terror.• They know that the removal of the dictator who so brutalised their community has weakened their claim for total independence.• The dictator was indeed inside the tramcar. 