Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DICTATORIAL

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

connect today's word to others: Dictatorial people are always telling you what to do, spouting out orders at you. We got dictatorial from the Latin word dicere, meaning "to say" or "to speak," which is why it looks a bit like predict, contradict, dictionary, and other words that are about, you know, words. :) Dictatorial is also a close relative of b___dict___ (a prayer, or a kind wish for someone's success) and m___dict___ (a curse, or a rude and vulgar thing to say). Could you recall these two opposites? (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "DICTATORIAL" To dictate something is to say it out loud so that someone else can write it down word for word. And to dictate is also to tell people exactly what they have to do, as if you're in total control of them. And of course, a dictator is a ruler with total control or absolute power. Dictatorial people and things remind you of a dictator because they're extremely bossy or extremely controlling. Pronunciation: DIK tuh TORE ee ul Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a dictatorial thing" or "a dictatorial person." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was dictatorial" or "He was dictatorial.") Other forms: Dictate, dictated, dictating, dictation; dictator(s), dictatorship(s); dictatorially, dictatorialism/dictatorialness. Alternate words that mean the same thing as "dictatorial" are "dictatorian," "dictatory," and "dictator-like." But we'll keep focusing on "dictatorial" because it's the most common. How to use it: You might use this word literally to talk about politics and history, in reference to dictatorial rule, dictatorial leaders, dictatorial power or powers, dictatorial nations and regimes, dictatorial governments, etc. But we'll focus on more general usage: on regular citizens who act like dictators.  Talk about dictatorial people and personalities. Maybe you've had a dictatorial boss, judge, teacher, client, or customer--hopefully never a dictatorial girlfriend or boyfriend. You can also talk about dictatorial manners and behaviors, dictatorial comments and commands, dictatorial assertions and pronouncements, a dictatorial management style, dictatorial rules and regulations and policies, a dictatorial control over things or a dictatorial grip on things, and so on. examples: Regina maintained a dictatorial control over the schedule, narrowing her eyes when anyone clocked in or out. Even as a college student, he still can't oust his middle school teacher's dictatorial order to format every paper into five predictable paragraphs. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dictatorial" means when you can explain it without saying "overbearing" or "imperious." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) (keeps, or doesn't like to keep) a dictatorial grip on _____." Example 1: "I don't like to keep a dictatorial grip on how much screen time my daughter has."  Example 2: "His diabetes keeps a dictatorial grip on his diet." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing "Coiners & Coinages." Use your knowledge of science, history, literature, and vocabulary as you match newly coined words to the people who coined them, and vice versa. Let's do this! From our previous issue: Was it Murray Gell-Mann, James Joyce, or Victor Hugo who coined the word QUARK? Answer: Although it was Gell-Mann who discovered that subatomic particles are themselves made up of basic parts, and although it was Gell-Mann, too, who decided to name those parts "quarks," he took the word from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, a strange sort of stream-of-consciousness story that at one point reads, "Three quarks for Muster Mark." To learn more about both the word and the concept, check out Gell-Man's book The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. Try this today: To avoid the meaning implied by the word "sensual," who coined the word SENSUOUS: was it John Milton, Jane Austen, or William Faulkner? review today's word: 1. The opposite of DICTATORIAL is A. LENIENT. B. SIMPLISTIC. C. FREE-WHEELING. 2. In a complaint filed against their dictatorial supervisor, they noted that she had often _____. A. come in late, left early, and complained about anyone else who did the same B. yanked control of even minor decisions from the employees C. arrived reeking of cigarette smoke Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. B