# tyrant

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtaɪɹənt/ · frequency rank #18,207

## Definitions
1. A usurper; one who gains power and rules extralegally, distinguished from kings elevated by election or succession.
2. Any monarch or governor.
3. A despot; a ruler who governs unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
4. Any person who abuses the power of position or office to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
5. A villain; a person or thing who uses strength or violence to treat others unjustly, cruelly, or harshly.
6. The tyrant birds, members of the family Tyrannidae, which often fight or drive off other birds which approach their nests.

## Etymology
From Middle English tyraunt, tiraunt, tyrant, tyrante, from Old French tyrant, from the addition of a terminal -t to tiran (cp. French tyran) via a back-formation related to the development of French present participles out of the Latin -ans form, from Latin tyrannus (“despot”), from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos, “usurper, monarch, despot”), of uncertain origin.

## Easily confused with
- **Tyrone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tyrant-vs-tyrone)
- **Tran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tran-vs-tyrant)
- **trans** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trans-vs-tyrant)
- **Trent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trent-vs-tyrant)
- **tract** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tract-vs-tyrant)
- **trait** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/trait-vs-tyrant)
- **tenant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tenant-vs-tyrant)
- **tyranny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tyranny-vs-tyrant)

## Common misspellings (10)
`tryant`, `ttyrant`, `tyarnt`, `tyrannt`, `tyrantt`, `tyratn`, `tyrnat`, `tyrrant`, `tyyrant`, `ytrant`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tyrant