Skip to content

tiranía

tyranny

noun tee-rah-NEE-ah Rare

Origin: Greek tyrannia (rule of a tyrant)

Usage Note

Tiranía denotes both the system of a tyrant's rule and, figuratively, any oppressive domination: la tiranía del reloj (the tyranny of the clock). The related nouns are tirano/tirana (tyrant) and the adjective tiránico (tyrannical). It is a literary and political term rarely used in casual conversation.

Examples

"El pueblo se rebeló contra la tiranía del dictador."

Natural Translation

The people rebelled against the dictator's tyranny.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic