juggernaut

noun jug·ger·naut \ ˈjə-gər-ˌnȯt , -ˌnät \

|Updated on: 8 Jun 2018

Examples: juggernaut in a Sentence

Editor's Note: The History of juggernaut

Definition of juggernaut

1 : a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path

an advertising juggernaut

a political juggernaut

2 chiefly British : a large heavy truck

See juggernaut defined for English-language learners

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Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence

there was no escaping the juggernaut of hype for the studio's biggest summer blockbuster

Recent Examples of juggernaut from the Web

So, when the Macy’s in Ardmore’s Suburban Square went dark two years ago, some wondered whether the art deco complex, one of America’s oldest and most elegant open-air malls, would be the next to fall to the e-commerce juggernaut.

— inga saffron, Philly.com, "Ardmore's Suburban Square shows what's in store for downtowns as shopping moves online," 31 May 2018
In the breakup, CBS also received premium channel Showtime, an also-ran to the prestigious juggernaut HBO.

— stephen battaglio, latimes.com, "Leslie Moonves helped make CBS a TV juggernaut, but the brawl over a Viacom merger could lead to his exit," 18 May 2018
Desert Vista had its hand full with an offensive juggernaut in Notre Dame that finished the regular season with 211 goals.

— jorge ramos, azcentral, "Notre Dame Lacrosse advance to Arizona Lacrosse League state final," 27 Apr. 2018
The Democratic primary turnout was better than usual and O’Rourke has already proven to be a fundraising juggernaut.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Texas tussle stretches Senate map," 18 Apr. 2018
If those don’t set him over the edge, Blackhawk may as well be the juggernaut that catapults him to the next level.

— yohana desta, HWD, "Why Is Steven Spielberg Joining DC’s Superhero Universe?," 18 Apr. 2018
UnitedHealth has been slowly but surely amassing a juggernaut in that arm, which does everything from pharmacy benefits management to overseeing doctors and data analytics services.

— sy mukherjee, Fortune, "Brainstorm Health: Digital Diabetes Prevention, Cannabis-Based Drug, UnitedHealth Earnings," 17 Apr. 2018
About the only thing that got away was the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Basketball award, which went to Fort Lauderdale University School junior juggernaut Vernon Carey Jr.

— buddy collings, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Historic hoops season built on transfer talent," 12 Apr. 2018
Its journey from dorm-room startup to a profit-spewing juggernaut was the kind of legendary rise that tech entrepreneurs and investors sought to re-create.

— yoree koh, WSJ, "Silicon Valley Rivals Take Shots at Facebook," 1 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'juggernaut.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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 Jagannath, 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 probably an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe anyway. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and by the 19th century, they were using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) or to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities.