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

Since then, North Korea has expanded its nuclear weapons program, and analysts believe the totalitarian regime now has dozens of nuclear warheads.

— Anna Coren, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
There is something totalitarian about utopias, something already latent in More.

— Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of totalitarian

Adjective

Among those waiting to meet the president was Leon Czolgosz, a 28-year-old anarchist who considered the government oppressive.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
People seem to be craving the scent of something cooling and quenching, an olfactive promise that less oppressive weather lies ahead.

— April Long, Allure, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of oppressive

Adjective

A good number of them also have authoritarian governments, raising questions about the lack of accountability and due process to ensure the protection of the deportees’ rights.

— Mark Banchereau, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
The Gwangju Biennale was founded in 1994 to commemorate the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, during which hundreds of civilians were killed during a protest against the authoritarian military government’s brutal crackdown on civil rights.

— Vivienne Chow, ARTnews.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of authoritarian

Adjective

The 2015 action film, set in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, stars Theron as warrior Imperator Furiosa, who leads the daring escape of female prisoners from a tyrannical ruler.

— Kirsten Chuba, HollywoodReporter, 23 Aug. 2026
That goes double for The Devil Wears Prada’s tyrannical Miranda Priestly, in which Streep turns an icy glare into a weapon tantamount to Leatherface’s chainsaw.

— Chris Bellamy, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 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

In Russia, czarist monuments were replaced by statues of Communist leaders, which in turn were torn down — statues of Stalin also fell in Hungary, Georgia and Albania.

— Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
Compared to their forerunners in the tsarist era, with their party congresses held abroad, their executive committees, and their active recruitment in imperial Russia’s universities, Soviet dissidents remained a comparatively small and informal conglomeration of activists.

— Benjamin Nathans September 24, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2025

Definition of czarist

Adjective

At a Sunday rally in Georgia, Ossoff needled Trump for accepting a new Air Force One plane from the autocratic monarchy of Qatar and for reportedly hiding in a catering truck to switch to a different plane in Turkey last month.

— Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 20 Aug. 2026
Increasing the stakes is Florida’s connection to Latin America, given that many expats settled in the state after fleeing autocratic leftist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of autocratic

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 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of jackbooted

adjective

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