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
Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
But the tech juggernaut’s rebound can be taken as a sign that the iPhone is still enough to excite consumers and Wall Street, even as the company falls behind in the AI race.
—Lisa Eadicicco, CNN Money, 28 Oct. 2025
All eyes were on Maye Sunday when his hot start was expected to cool against the Cleveland Browns’ juggernaut defense.
—Hannah Vanbiber, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025
The New York Times reported last week that Jeff Bezos’ shopping juggernaut has looked at using AI and robotics to perform 600,000 jobs in the coming years that would otherwise be done by humans.
—Brian Niemietz, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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