potentate vs despot

potentate and despot both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
potentate	Yes	No	No	No
despot	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, despot is a hyponym of potentate; that is, despot is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than potentate:

Other hyponyms of potentate include shogun, strongman, autocrat, tyrant.

potentate (noun)	despot (noun)
a ruler who is unconstrained by law	a cruel and oppressive dictator