diktat means A dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
DIKTAT — [Noun] A harsh, dogmatic decree or settlement imposed unilaterally, especially by a victor upon a defeated party or by an authority without consent. From German Diktat ("dictated command"), from Latin dictātum ("that which has been dictated"), the neuter past participle of dictāre ("to dictate, prescribe"). Unlike a “decree,” which can be benign, or a “mandate,” which implies conferred legitimacy, a diktat is power stripped of all pretense to dialogue—the punitive clause in a peace treaty signed under duress, the factory owner's new roster pinned to the board without consultation, the parental verdict that brooks no appeal. It is the forced architecture of a reality you did not choose, and must now inhabit.
noun
- A dogmatic decree or command, especially issued by one who rules without popular consent.“Whatever the pressures that have invoked the Minister's diktat, the outcome is Gilbertian.”
- A harsh penalty or settlement imposed upon a defeated party by the victor.“Even Hitler's success in capturing the allegiance of the masses was due far more to this programmes of social reform than to his denunciations of the Diktats of Versailles or his belief in an expansionist future for Germany.”