say it: di-SPAH-tik
despotic is an adjective meaning "belonging to or having the characteristics of a despot". It carries 3 recorded senses.
belonging to or having the characteristics of a despot
ruled by or characteristic of a despot
“moved from a feudal to a despotic order”
“his administration was arrogant and despotic”
characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty
“an authoritarian regime”
“autocratic government”
“despotic rulers”
“a dictatorial rule that lasted for the duration of the war”
“a tyrannical government”
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for despotic come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.