Police State (Noun)
Meaning
A country that maintains repressive control over the people by means of police (especially secret police).
Classification
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects.
Examples
- The government's increasing reliance on surveillance and censorship had turned the country into a de facto police state.
- The former dictator's regime was notorious for its police state tactics, including torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.
- Critics accused the government of creating a police state by granting its law enforcement agencies sweeping powers to monitor and detain citizens.
- In the aftermath of the coup, the military-established government resembled a police state, with nationwide curfews, checkpoints, and random searches of homes.
- Human rights groups argued that the country's authoritarian government had evolved into a police state, using its security forces to suppress dissent and opposition.