the principle or the exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government.
2.
any theory holding that values, principles, etc., are absolute and not relative, dependent, or changeable.
Origin
1745-55
Related forms
absolutist, noun, adjective
absolutistic, adjective
absolutistically, adverb
nonabsolutist, noun
nonabsolutistic, adjective
nonabsolutistically, adverb
proabsolutism, noun
proabsolutist, adjective, noun
Synonyms
1. totalitarianism.
British Dictionary definitions for absolutism
absolutism
/ˈæbsəluːˌtɪzəm/
noun
1.
the principle or practice of a political system in which unrestricted power is vested in a monarch, dictator, etc; despotism
2.
(philosophy)
any theory which holds that truth or moral or aesthetic value is absolute and universal and not relative to individual or social differences Compare relativism
the doctrine that reality is unitary and unchanging and that change and diversity are mere illusion See also monism (sense 2), pluralism (sense 5b)
3.
(Christianity) an uncompromising form of the doctrine of predestination
Derived Forms
absolutist, noun, adjective
Word Origin and History for absolutism
n.
1753 in theology; 1830 in politics, in which sense it was first used by British reformer and parliamentarian Maj. Gen. Thomas Perronet Thompson (1783-1869). See absolute and -ism.