heteronomy

noun

Definition of heteronomynext
as in subjection

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of heteronomy For this reason, the passage from Arab spring to Arab winter should be understood first and foremost as a narrative of self-determination, choice, and consequences, not as a story of heteronomy and external imposition. — New York Times, 12 May 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heteronomy
  1. subjection
  2. unfreedom
  3. dependence
Noun
  • The Handmaid's Tale spared no sensitivities when diving into the cruelest treatment people like June, and even Lydia, experience at the hands of a totalitarian system bent on the total subjection of women.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Apr. 2026
  • As the man brawls with his in-laws, the boy is caught between two worlds, of male rage and female subjection.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
Definition of subjection
Noun
  • These ideas—of ceding ground, of viewing another as infinite rather than as a means to address our own unfreedom—are of no use to the industries and technologies that treat the face as a display commodity before all else.
    — Jia Tolentino, New Yorker, 11 July 2026
  • But the reality is that car dependence entrenches debt, ill health, and vulnerability—forms of unfreedom smuggled in under the name of freedom.
    — Henrietta Moore, Fortune, 16 Sep. 2025
Definition of unfreedom
Noun
  • Some importing countries will undoubtedly see the disruption as a reason to reduce their dependence on oil, but many may draw the opposite lesson.
    — Jason Bordoff, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Individual accounts lessen dependence on one parent to forward emails or share announcements and help avoid allegations that educational information is being withheld.
    — Rebecca L. Palmer, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of dependence

Browse Nearby Words

heteronomies
heteronomy
het up
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Cite this Entry

“Heteronomy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heteronomy. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on heteronomy

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about heteronomy

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