Absolute monarchy
a monarchy that is not limited or restrained by laws or a constitution.
Contemporary Examples
France, after all, transitioned from absolute monarchy by way of the French Revolution and its Reign of Terror.
Give the ‘Arab Spring’ Some Time Justin Green December 26, 2012
Some have called for an appointed government and even a return to absolute monarchy.
Up to Speed: All You Need to Know About the Thai Coup Lennox Samuels May 26, 2014
As an absolute monarchy there was comfort in an Arab world of other autocracies.
Bahrain Uprising: High Stakes for the U.S. Bruce Riedel February 18, 2011
Historical Examples
He contended for the absolute monarchy of the King of England.
Books Fatal to Their Authors P. H. Ditchfield
A representative government may be as despotic as an absolute monarchy.
Slavery William E. Channing
The story I am about to relate is a narrative of the transformation of a confederacy into an absolute monarchy.
History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science John William Draper
Originally this gigantic tropical empire was an “absolute monarchy.”
The Story of Mankind Hendrik van Loon
With respect, however, to absolute monarchy, it presents an inherent and invincible tendency to revolution.
Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations Marcus Tullius Cicero
Government is an absolute monarchy, limited by powerful customs.
Alden’s Handy Atlas of the World John B. Alden
The Revolution effected the transformation of limited monarchy into absolute monarchy.
The Ego and His Own Max Stirner
noun
a monarchy without constitutional limits Compare constitutional monarchy
noun
a government determined solely by the ruler; also called despotic monarchy
Examples
Unions are demanding reform of Africa’s last absolute monarchy.
Usage Note
politics
Rule by one person — a monarch, usually a king or a queen — whose actions are restricted neither by written law nor by custom; a system different from a constitutional monarchy and from a republic. Absolute monarchy persisted in France until 1789 and in Russia until 1917.
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