divine right

noun

: the right of a sovereign to rule as set forth by the theory of government that holds that a monarch receives the right to rule directly from God and not from the people

Examples of divine right in a Sentence

He ruled by divine right.

My boss seems to think he has a divine right to order people around.

Recent Examples on the Web

The hollow sphere represents the divine rights and responsibilities of the monarch and is made up of 365 jewels, including emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. — Katherine J Igoe, InStyle, 3 Nov. 2026

Virginia may have established a representative body, the House of Burgesses, in 1619, but the mid-century Cavalier elite continued to accept the divine right of kings as the Stuart monarchs had propounded it. — James Traub, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026

The invocation of self-evident truths and inherent rights is a warrant for the destruction of existing order, a rhetorical erasure not only of the divine right of kings but also, more generally, of the prerogatives of power. — New York Times, 9 June 2026

The Lord of the Rings is a series obsessed with ruins, bloodlines, the divine right of aristocrats, and a sense of history as a tragic, endless fall from grace. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 5 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1600, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for divine right

• actinolite
• adipocyte
• amphibolite
• anorthosite
• anthophyllite
• aragonite
• carbonatite
• cassiterite
• chalcopyrite
• cristobalite
• crocidolite
• diatomite