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# tyrant

«tyrant» in Mova's school dictionary: **a ruler who uses power cruelly and unfairly and does not…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a tyrant, tyrants)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A tyrant is a ruler who uses power cruelly and unfairly and does not let people choose or change their leaders. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#m1)

2) (informal) A tyrant is anyone who bosses others about cruelly, such as a bossy boss, teacher or older sibling. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#m2)

3) (history) In ancient Greece a tyrant was a ruler who took power by force, not always cruel. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In history and politics lessons a tyrant is the opposite of a fair, chosen leader; people fight tyranny with laws, elections and courts. In stories tyrants are kings, queens or giants who frighten everyone until heroes stand up to them. Phrases: a cruel tyrant, overthrow a tyrant, petty tyrant, tyranny.

### examples

- The people rose up against the cruel tyrant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x1)
- The tyrant threw anyone who disagreed into prison. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x2)
- In the fairy tale, the tyrant king took all the farmers' food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x3)
- My big sister is a tyrant when it's her turn to choose the TV. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x4)
- Ancient Athens was once ruled by tyrants. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x5)
- Elections help stop a tyrant from taking power. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x6)
- Tyrannosaurus rex means «tyrant lizard king». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x7)
- The tyrant can always find an excuse for his tyranny. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/#x8)

### note

Plural tyrants. Related words: tyranny (cruel rule), tyrannical (cruel and bossy). Do not confuse tyrant with «tirade» (a long angry speech).

### In the corpora

- [Mei says the First Emperor was the greatest ruler ever; the teacher says he was a tyrant.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/0/)
- [He was both a unifier and a tyrant.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tyrant» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tyrant/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.