Despot

[dɛsˈpoːt]

/[dɛsˈpoːt]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Despot” is uncommon German (frequency #59,565 among 2,764 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,565
frequency rank, German
2,764
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Staatsoberhaupt, das willkürlich und absolut herrscht

Corpus desk

Index DE-despot · Despot · German

Despot · rank #59,565 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,565
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,764
  • PHOTO-FINISH dementieren

Nearest frequency peer: dementieren (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Despot“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Despot“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Despot
PropertyValue
HeadwordDespot
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[dɛsˈpoːt]
Letters6
Frequency rank#59,565
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Despot“ im Deutschen

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Despotfällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „dementieren“ (#59,564), „Desserts“ (#59,566), „deinerseits“ (#59,563). Unter 2,764 „D“-Lemmata liegt „Despot“ bei #59,565. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Despot is uncommon German at frequency #59,565 among 2,764 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [dɛsˈpoːt]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for Despot in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Despot, spelled D-E-S-P-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Staatsoberhaupt, das willkürlich und absolut herrscht
  2. 2
    byzantinischer Adelstitel

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Despot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Es waren die Tunesier selbst, die sich ihres Despoten entledigten …“
  2. „Ein kaum zu überbietendes Gekröse aus Gerüchten und religionspolitischen Wahnsinnstaten umgibt den aus einem syrischen Geschlecht stammenden Despoten, der im 3. Jahrhundert im größten Staat des Altertums die Macht an sich riss.“

Synonyms

DiktatorGewaltmenschZwingherrFürst

Antonyms

Demokrat

This word in other languages

despot(English)déspota(Español)despote(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Despot"?
"Despot" is spelled D-E-S-P-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is [dɛsˈpoːt].
What does "Despot" mean?
As a noun, "Despot" means: Staatsoberhaupt, das willkürlich und absolut herrscht
How do you pronounce "Despot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Despot" is [dɛsˈpoːt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Despot" come from?
"Despot" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Despot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dränge#59,582Bürgel#59,537Bäuche#59,535burner#59,532

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list