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democracy

[dih-mok-ruh-see] / dɪˈmɒk rə si /
NOUN
government in which people participate
Synonyms
STRONGEST
equality freedom justice
STRONG
commonwealth egalitarianism emancipation equalitarianism republic suffrage
WEAK
liberal government representative government
Antonyms
STRONGEST
unfairness

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another name for democracy?
Generally speaking, democracy is government by the people. More specifically, a democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected representatives under a system of free elections. Many of the world’s democracies are also republics (in which people have the power and wield it through electoral representation). Sometimes, these are referred to as democratic republics. The words democracy and republic are sometimes used interchangeably. The U.S. is typically considered, for all practical purposes, both a democracy (in a more general sense) and a republic (in a more specific, functional sense). Technically speaking, it can be considered a federal presidential constitutional republic or a constitutional federal representative democracy. (You can see why it’s easier to just call it a democracy.) Sometimes, the word democracy is used in a very general way to mean political or social equality, or the state of a society where this equality has been formalized.
What are the different types of democracy?
Democracies are most commonly classified as one of two types: a direct democracy (which involves citizens directly governing) and a representative democracy (which involves citizens electing representatives to govern on their behalf). Sometimes, democracies are classified or categories in other ways. They may be labeled as aggregative, deliberative, or radical, or as participatory, pluralist, or elite. There are many other adjectives that can be applied as well. Of course, democracies vary from place to place, and every democracy may not fit neatly into a particular category or system of classification.
What is the opposite of democracy?
Democracy is complex, and the word doesn’t have an exact opposite in the same way that words like hot and cold are opposites. But there are forms of government that are based on very different ideals or values—including those in which the people (the average citizens) do not hold any power. The U.S. famously founded its representative democratic republic by breaking away from a monarchy, a system in which a monarch like a king or queen claims to wield power not from the consent of the people but based on divine right (lol). Terms for systems of government in which power is held not by the people but by a single person or a small group include authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and despotism. More generally, such situations may be described as tyranny. A specific government in which the power is held not by the people but by a single leader might be called a dictatorship or an autocracy. There are also a lot of critical words that refer to a governmental system that is considered undemocratic in a specific way, such as plutocracy (rule by the wealthy) and oligarchy (rule by a powerful few). Some people contrast democracy with systems like Communism or socialism, both of which also involve economic aspects. Such systems exist in many forms (both theoretically and in practice). They may be extremely different from democratic systems, but they may overlap in some ways. A country could be both socialist and democratic, for example.
What are antonyms (opposites) of democratic?
The word democratic can mean different things depending on whether it’s capitalized or not. Lowercase d democratic is a general term referring to things that involve or are based on democracy. Direct antonyms for this sense of democratic include undemocratic or antidemocratic. In the U.S., Democratic with a capital D is used in the name of the Democratic Party, one of the two major U.S. political parties, along with the Republican Party. These two parties are typically seen as rivals, and some people may consider them opposites (though, just like everything else in politics, there are many people who disagree).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Search engines must be able to innovate and keep pace with evolving user needs,” Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy at the Commission, said in a statement.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

“His unethical actions have had real, lasting consequences for our democracy, and we applaud the California Supreme Court’s decision to disbar him.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Their arguments helped convince congressional Republicans to push for the 15th Amendment, embedding in our national charter for the first time the idea that the right to vote is essential to a functioning democracy.

From Slate • Apr. 15, 2026

“Compliance with a lawful order of a court is not optional; it is required in a democracy committed to the rule of law.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

“Thus Architecture died in the land of the free and the home of the brave—in a land declaring its fervid democracy, its inventiveness, its resourcefulness, its unique daring, enterprise and progress.”

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Vocabulary lists containing democracy

U.S. Government Lingo

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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman

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Persepolis

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