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Definition of "tyrannize" [tyr•an•nize]

  • To treat tyrannically; oppress. (verb-transitive)
  • To exercise absolute power: "So it is the nature of such persons to insult and tyrannize over little people” ( Henry Fielding). (verb-intransitive)
  • To rule as a tyrant. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "tyrannize" in a sentence
  • ""It is utterly impossible that they who live in the administration of the petty despotism of a slave community, whose minds have been warped and polluted by that contamination, should not lose that respect for their fellow creatures over whom they tyrannize, which is essential in the nature and moral being of man, to rescue them from the abuse of power over their prostrate fellow creatures.""
  • "They had decided against the idea on the grounds that rich Chinese would "tyrannize" the poor Chinese and treat them far worse than did the Dutch."
  • "I keep flashing back to blockbuster movies with Will Smith and Shia Labeouf where the big bad military types get control of all of our information and use it to tyrannize the innocent."