monarch

noun mon·arch \ ˈmä-nərk , -ˌnärk \

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

Definition of monarch

1 : a person who reigns over a kingdom or empire: such as

a : a sovereign ruler

b : a constitutional (see ¹constitutional 3) king or queen

2 : one that holds preeminent position or power

cotton, monarch of the textile world
—Wall Street Journal

3 : monarch butterfly

—

monarchal

play \mə-ˈnär-kəl, mä-\ or monarchial play \-kē-əl\ adjective

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Examples of monarch in a Sentence

a new history of French monarchs
the ruling monarch of Britain at that time was Queen Elizabeth I

Recent Examples of monarch from the Web

Now in her 90s, Britain's monarch seems to be getting in on the act with a gag about Donald Trump.

— zahid mahmood, CNN, "Queen jokes on TV: 'It sounds like President Trump'," 10 Apr. 2018
All of these suggestions follow the royal tradition of honoring past monarchs and relatives.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "All the Things We Know About the Next Royal Baby," 9 Apr. 2018
The historian Edward Gibbon, describing the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, argued: The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides with that of his people.

— henry farrell, margaret levi, Vox, "Mark Zuckerberg runs a nation-state, and he’s the king," 9 Apr. 2018
According to reports from Casablanca to Karachi, the British monarch is descended from the Prophet Muhammad, making her a cousin of the kings of Morocco and Jordan, not to mention of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.

— The Economist, "Muslims consider Queen Elizabeth’s ties to the Prophet Muhammad," 5 Apr. 2018
The Elizabeth Line, named after the British monarch, will have 73 miles of new tracks and stop at 41 stations, 10 of them new, when fully opened in December.

— isobel lee, WSJ, "London’s Crossrail Project Loses Traction as Political Obstacles Mount," 3 Apr. 2018
According to Vanity Fair, even the Queen got some pushback—the monarch had some suggestions for flower arrangements, but Markle had her own ideas.

— megan friedman, Harper's BAZAAR, "Meghan Markle Reportedly Has a Secret, Unofficial Wedding Planner," 3 Apr. 2018
The 91-year-old monarch made her first London Fashion Week appearance for British designer Richard Quinn’s runway show.

— javier blas, Houston Chronicle, "Another headache or OPEC: Old fields find new life," 9 Mar. 2018
The monarch and the fashion editor were seated together in the first row of designer Richard Quinn’s runway show, where Her Majesty presented Quinn with the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.

— tony bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, "Style Radar: The fashion behind the first lady’s portrait," 22 Feb. 2018

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