matriarch

noun

ma·​tri·​arch ˈmā-trē-ˌärk 

: a woman who rules or dominates a family, group, or state

specifically : a mother who is head and ruler of her family and descendants

Our grandmother was the family's matriarch.

Did you know?

A matriarchy is a social unit governed by a woman or group of women. It isn't certain that a true matriarchal society has ever existed, so matriarchy is usually treated as an imaginative concept. But there are societies in which relatedness through women rather than men is stressed, and elements of matriarchy may be stronger in certain societies than they are in most of the Western world. And most of us can point to families in which a woman has become the dominant figure, or grande dame, or matriarch.

Synonyms

• dowager
• matron

Examples of matriarch in a Sentence

Our grandmother was the family's matriarch.

The tribe's matriarch ruled for 20 years before her death.

Recent Examples on the Web

One of them concerned the Ingalls matriarch having an understandable nervous breakdown. —Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Sep. 2025

Living with the new bride, Zahra, Amani tries to re-assert her role as the family matriarch. —Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 23 Sep. 2025

Shannon is looking for love in the shadow of her gangster father, Dylan (Riley), devoted mum Cat (Fraser), older brother Luke (Gribben) and family matriarch, grandma Ollie (Duncan). —Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 22 Sep. 2025

Shirley Lam, the matriarch of the family, not only opened the door to their tenement apartment but welcomed Holton in for dinner. —Qian Julie Wang, New Yorker, 20 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for matriarch

• disembark
• meadowlark
• patriarch
• watermark
• arc
• ark
• bark
• barque
• dark
• hark
• lark
• marc

Kids Definition

matriarch

noun

ma·​tri·​arch ˈmā-trē-ˌärk 

: a woman who rules a family, group, or state

especially : a mother who is head of her family and descendants

matriarchal

ˌmā-trē-ˈär-kəl 

adjective