Base where society is hiding tyrant (6)

I believe the answer is:

despot

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'tyrant' is the definition.
(I know that tyrant can be written as despot)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for despot that I've seen before include "Caesar for one" , "who treats others badly?" , "One exploiting rule" , "Possibly 4 [CZAR]" , "Posted (anag)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times and The Guardian.

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