Dictionary

totalitarianism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

1938, from totalitarian + -ism, modeled after Italian totalitarismo (1923, by Giovanni Amendola) and German terms such as Totalstaat (1927, The Concept of the Political, by Carl Schmitt).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A system of government in which the people have virtually no authority and the state wields absolute control, for example, a dictatorship.
   • Mr. Yudin argues that Russia is moving out of authoritarianism – where political passivity and civic disengagement are key features – into totalitarianism, which relies on mass mobilization, terror and homogeneity of beliefs. 2022 April 9, Sabrina Tavernise, “[Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine shatters an illusion in Russia”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • And if it is true that in the final stages of totalitarianism an absolute evil appears (absolute because it can no longer be deduced from humanly comprehensible motives), it is also true that without it we might never have known the truly radical nature of Evil. 1951, Hannah Arendt, “Preface to the First Edition”, in The Origins of Totalitarianism (A Harvest/HBJ Book), new edition, San Diego, Calif.; New York, N.Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1973, →ISBN, pages viii–ix:
   • Now, with her new book Beyond the Wall, Hoyer is seeking to retrieve the GDR from being written off as a chilling “footnote in German history”, a miserably grey country synonymous with unflinching totalitarianism. 2023 April 28, Frederick Studemann, “Katja Hoyer: we need to hear ‘the whole story’ about East Germany”, in Financial Times, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC:
   • The film Repentance caused a sensation across the Soviet Union not only because it publicly condemned the evil of totalitarianism but also because it encouraged tens of thousands of Soviet people to reflect upon the source and root cause of the evil.[…] 2020 October 31, Yiqing, “Why Is the Chinese Communist Party So Afraid of Intellectuals?”, in Minghui:

Forms

Deriveds

inverted totalitarianism · antitotalitarianism

Relateds

totalism · totalistic · totalist

Translations (66)

bg тоталитари́зъм (system where state wields absolute control) · pl totalitaryzm (system where state wields absolute control) · de Totalitarismus (system where state wields absolute control) · da totalitarisme (system where state wields absolute control) · ky тоталитаризм (system where state wields absolute control) · nb totalitarisme (system where state wields absolute control) · tr totalitarizm (system where state wields absolute control) · th ระบบรวบอำนาจเบ็ดเสร็จ (system where state wields absolute control) · hi सर्वसत्तावाद (system where state wields absolute control) · tk totalitarizm (system where state wields absolute control) · cs totalitarismus (system where state wields absolute control) · is alræðisstefna (system where state wields absolute control) · uz totalitarizm (system where state wields absolute control) · mk тоталитари́зам (system where state wields absolute control) · tl totalitarismo (system where state wields absolute control) · ga ollsmachtachas (system where state wields absolute control) · hu totalitarizmus (system where state wields absolute control) · ko 전체주의 (system where state wields absolute control) · km សមស្តនិយម (system where state wields absolute control) · id totalitarianisme (system where state wields absolute control) · sk totalitarizmus (system where state wields absolute control) · cmn 極權主義 /极权主义 (system where state wields absolute control) · ja 全体主義 (system where state wields absolute control) · sh тоталитарѝзам (system where state wields absolute control) · fr totalitarisme (system where state wields absolute control) · tg тоталитаризм (system where state wields absolute control) · pl totalizm (system where state wields absolute control) · vi chủ nghĩa toàn trị (system where state wields absolute control) · hy ամբողջատիրություն (system where state wields absolute control) · et totalitarism (system where state wields absolute control) · mi angangarengaretanga (system where state wields absolute control) · cmn 全體主義 /全体主义 (system where state wields absolute control) · sv totalitarism (system where state wields absolute control) · ru тоталитари́зм (system where state wields absolute control) · gl totalitarismo (system where state wields absolute control) · ca totalitarisme (system where state wields absolute control) · sq totalitarizëm (system where state wields absolute control) · ro totalitarism (system where state wields absolute control) · pt totalitarismo (system where state wields absolute control) · fa توتالیتاریسم (system where state wields absolute control) · fi totalitarismi (system where state wields absolute control) · ms totalitarianisme (system where state wields absolute control) · tr bütüncüllük (system where state wields absolute control) · it totalitarismo (system where state wields absolute control) · ar شُمُولِيَّة (system where state wields absolute control) · nl totalitarisme (system where state wields absolute control) · is alræði (system where state wields absolute control) · tr totaliterlik (system where state wields absolute control) · km ផ្តាច់ការនិយម (system where state wields absolute control) · es totalitarismo (system where state wields absolute control) · be таталітары́зм (system where state wields absolute control) · uk тоталітари́зм (system where state wields absolute control) · ka ტოტალიტარიზმი (system where state wields absolute control) · lv totalitārisms (system where state wields absolute control) · cy totalitariaeth (system where state wields absolute control) · sh totalitarìzam (system where state wields absolute control) · th ลัทธิเผด็จการ (system where state wields absolute control) · az totalitarizm (system where state wields absolute control) · he טוֹטָלִיטָרִיזְם (system where state wields absolute control) · kmr totalîtarîzm (system where state wields absolute control) · el ολοκληρωτισμός (system where state wields absolute control) · id totaliterisme (system where state wields absolute control) · kk тоталитаризм (system where state wields absolute control) · fa تمامیتخواهی (system where state wields absolute control) · sl totalitarizem (system where state wields absolute control) · lt totalitarizmas (system where state wields absolute control)

wikipedia: Giovanni Amendola · wikipedia: The Concept of the Political · wikipedia: Franz Borkenau · wikipedia: Carl Schmitt