authoritarian. adj. 1. favouring, denoting, or characterized by strict obedience to authority.2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) favouring, denoting, or relating to government by a small elite with wide powers.u•thor•i•tar•i•an. 1. of, favoring, or requiring complete obedience to authority: an authoritarian military code. 2. pertaining to or being a government in which authority is centered in one person or in a small group not constitutionally accountable to the people.