These were all from the Saturday WSJ of a few weeks ago. Thematically, they represented some frightening reviews and essays.

autocrat, n., ruler with absolute power, dictator, despot, tyrant.

dystopian, adj., relating to an imagined state of great suffering ad injustice.

bot, n., a robot; an autonomous program on a network that can interact with users or other systems.

propaganda, n., information of a biased or misleading nature intended to promote a particular political cause or point of view.

insidious, adj., proceeding in a subtle, gradual way with harmful effects.

fakeries, n. pl., the practice or result of faking.

panopticon, n., an experimental laboratory of power in which behavior can be modified; a symbol of the disciplinary society of surveillance.

palimpsest, n., something reused or altered but bearing vestiges or traces of its earlier form.

exegeses, n., critical explanation of a text, particularly scripture.