- Today's Word
Despot
DES-puht (or DES-pot)
Definition
- (noun) A ruler with absolute power, often one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive manner.
Example
The despot ruled with an iron fist, silencing dissent and enforcing strict control over the populace.
Fun Fact
“Despot” comes from the Greek despotes, meaning “master” or “lord.” While initially neutral in tone, the word gained its negative connotation over centuries as it became associated with tyrannical leaders. Its use today highlights the importance of balancing power with fairness and justice.
(adjective) Of doubtful authenticity; widely circulated but almost certainly not true or not based in fact.
The tale of Washington chopping down the cherry tree is almost certainly apocryphal — a moral fable dressed up as biography and repeated until it became fact.
Apocryphal derives from the Greek apokryphos, meaning “hidden” or “obscure,” from apokryptein — “to hide away” — built from apo- (“away”) and kryptein (“to hide”). It entered English through the ecclesiastical Latin apocrypha, referring to biblical texts excluded from the official canon — writings considered of uncertain or dubious origin. From there it broadened into its modern sense of any story or claim whose authenticity is doubtful despite its wide circulation.