juggernaut
noun
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The History of Juggernaut
In the early 14th century, Franciscan missionary Friar Odoric brought to Europe the story of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god Vishnu (whose title was Jagannāth, literally, "lord of the world") through the streets of India in religious processions. Odoric reported that some worshippers deliberately allowed themselves to be crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels as a sacrifice to Vishnu. That story was likely an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and they began using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) and to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."
Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence
Justin Kroll, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2026
Or possibly a track from his 1979 smash solo album Off the Wall, or the juggernaut follow-up, Thriller, or the last of his Quincy Jones collaborations, Bad.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026
Roughly 40 hours had passed since Phoenix earned a date with this 64-win juggernaut, and this felt like Brooks’ invitation to chaos.
—Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026
Its villain-of-the-week structure introduces viewers to characters indelibly associated with the juggernaut franchise, including Catwoman (Julie Newmar) and The Joker (Cesar Romero).
—David Faris, TheWeek, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
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