a leader with great power, especially one who uses it in a cruel way专制统治者；专制君主；暴君- an enlightened despot (= one who tries to use his/her power in a good way)开明的专制君主
- It is the story of a military coup which brings a brutal despot to power.这就是那次军事政变的来龙去脉，它把一个残暴的专制统治者扶上了台。
Topics Politicsc2Word Originmid 16th cent.: from French despote, via medieval Latin from Greek despotēs ‘master, absolute ruler’. Originally (after the Turkish conquest of Constantinople) the term denoted a minor Christian ruler under the Turkish empire. The current sense dates from the late 18th cent.