Dictionary:

ukase

  (yū-kās', -kāz', yū'kās', -kāz')

1. An authoritative order or decree; an edict.
2. A proclamation of a czar having the force of law in imperial Russia.

[French, from Russian ukaz, decree, from Old Church Slavonic ukazŭ, a showing, proof : u-, at, to + kazati, to point out, show.]

How can you convey most forcefully your belief that a Supreme Court opinion lacks democratic validity? You can liken it to a czarist decree:

"In his Roe opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun purported to find in the 'penumbras' and 'emanations' of the Constitution the right to abortion. His ukase struck down 50 state laws, but, more destructively, he also stopped democracy cold."

Link: OpinionJournal - Abortion and the Law

Posted November 6, 2005.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an edict of the Russian tsar

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