tyrant
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 →
2) (informal) A tyrant is anyone who bosses others about cruelly, such as a bossy boss, teacher or older sibling. tree →
3) (history) In ancient Greece a tyrant was a ruler who took power by force, not always cruel. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It means a cruel, proud ruler. Isaiah uses it for the powerful oppressors whom God will bring low. Interpretation: The prophets teach that God will humble proud rulers. Tradition reads this as a promise of justice in the end for those who suffer under cruel power. In the primary 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
- And I will visit upon the world their evil, and upon the wicked their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants. (Prophets ISA.13.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- The people rose up against the cruel tyrant. tree →
- The tyrant threw anyone who disagreed into prison. tree →
- In the fairy tale, the tyrant king took all the farmers' food. tree →
- My big sister is a tyrant when it's her turn to choose the TV. tree →
- Ancient Athens was once ruled by tyrants. tree →
- Elections help stop a tyrant from taking power. tree →
- Tyrannosaurus rex means «tyrant lizard king». tree →
- The tyrant can always find an excuse for his tyranny. tree →
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.
- He was both a unifier and a tyrant.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tyrant» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.