major party

noun

: a political party having electoral strength sufficient to permit it to win control of a government usually with comparative regularity and when defeated to constitute the principal opposition to the party in power

Examples of major party in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mamdani is also now the primary vehicle for the DSA’s ambitious plan to accumulate influence and power within one of America’s two major parties. Ryan Clancy, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025 Even the Federal Election Commission is designed for partisan deadlock with an even number of members from each of the two major parties. Thom Reilly, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2025 Two major parties—Democratic and Republican—have dominated U.S. politics and no third party in recent memory has been able to penetrate the two-party system in a meaningful way. Rebecca Schneid, Time, 6 July 2025 Elections can tell us why Over the past half-century, the two major parties have changed dramatically, both in the absolutist nature of their beliefs and in relation to one another. Charlie Hunt, The Conversation, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for major party

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of major party was in 1950

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Cite this Entry

“Major party.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/major%20party. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.

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