Crossword Genius

Little old peers and VIPs, terribly dictatorial (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oppressive

'dictatorial' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'little old peers and vips terribly' is the wordplay.
'little' says to take the initial letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'terribly' indicates anagramming the letters.
The initial letter of 'old' is 'o'.
'peers'+'vips'='peersvips'
'peersvips' anagrammed gives 'ppressive'.
'o'+'ppressive'='OPPRESSIVE'

(Other definitions for oppressive that I've seen before include "Difficult to bear" , "Harsh, authoritarian" , "cruel" , "overpowering!" , "Sultry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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