JACKBOOTED Synonyms: 41 Similar and Opposite Words

jackbooted

adjective

Definition of jackbooted

as in totalitarian

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of jackbooted Karol let those lines here serve as her brief indictment of the present, jackbooted environment around immigration and repression in the United States. — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2026 Hungary under his rule is far from a jackbooted dictatorship, but its democracy is diverging markedly from that of many of its partners in the European Union. — Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2018 Was Rizzo a jackbooted tyrant who went out of his way to punish blacks and gays? — David Gambacorta, Philly.com, 22 Aug. 2017 For some, the racist taunts of the past few days recalled a time when jackbooted members of the far-right National Front taunted immigrants on the streets of Britain in the 1980s, during the painful deindustrialization of the Thatcher era. — Dan Bilefsky, New York Times, 27 June 2016

Recent Examples of Synonyms for jackbooted

Adjective

Whether or not Vance can see the totalitarian logic of his arguments is unknown.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
Orwell was exploring the roles that euphemism, tangled syntax, and dying metaphors can play in obscuring the true intentions of a totalitarian state.

— Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of totalitarian

Adjective

Resident's death under investigation The Middlesex County District Attorney's office, as well as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, are examining whether the oppressive heat played any role in the resident's death.

— Kristina Rex, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026
The combination was as oppressive as the thermometer reading.

— Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

El Sistema was founded decades before Hugo Chavez came to power in a populist revolution that quickly turned authoritarian.

— Max Feliu, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
What readers are saying The comments express overwhelming disapproval and outrage over the idea of live-streaming a public execution, likening it to barbaric practices of authoritarian regimes and terrorist groups.

— Aoife Walsh, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of authoritarian

Adjective

Putting your face on the passport, like forcing your name onto another President’s memorial, is a symptom of tyrannical egotism, exactly opposite to the republican premise.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
Domingo played the tyrannical show-biz patriarch Joe Jackson in the movie.

— Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of tyrannical

Adjective

Any transgression of new standards of speech and behavior could put someone at risk of social banishment, in the truly despotic shape of cancellation.

— Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
The comedy of errors that follows as Ina attempts to solve the nation’s problems, from traffic congestion to energy crisis, doubles as a critique of the despotic regime and the tumult of living in such hellish times.

— Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of despotic

Adjective

This would eventually lead to the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.

— James Folta, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2026
That war ended in a humiliating defeat by an enemy regarded as much weaker, and many tsarist officials blamed the outcome on Japanese spies and saboteurs.

— Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of czarist

Adjective

These tyrannous tabbies don’t understand that canning is not exclusively for wet food.

— Julie Klausner, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024
The same study posited that Fela was not the only popular musician who confronted the military and tyrannous leaders of Nigeria between independence in 1960 and Fela’s passing in 1997.

— Garhe Osiebe, Quartz Africa, 21 Feb. 2021

Definition of tyrannous

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jackasses

jackbooted

jacked (up)

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“Jackbooted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jackbooted. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of jackbooted

adjective

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