The word for today is…
despot (noun):
1a: a ruler with absolute power and authority
b: one exercising power tyrannically : a person exercising absolute power in a brutal or oppressive way
2a: a Byzantine emperor or prince
b: Christianity : a bishop or patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church
c: an Italian hereditary prince or military leader during the Renaissance
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : In his 1755 dictionary, Samuel Johnson said of despot, “this word is not in use, except as applied to some Dacian prince; as the despot of Servia.” Indeed at that time, the word was mainly used to identify some very specific rulers or religious officials, and the title was an honorable one: it comes from a Greek word meaning “lord” or “master.” That situation changed toward the end of the 18th century, perhaps because French Revolutionists, who were said to have been “very liberal in conferring this title,” considered all sovereigns to be tyrannical. Eventually, despot came to be used primarily for any ruler who wielded absolute and often contemptuous and oppressive power.
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