monarchy

noun

mon·ar·chy | \ ˈmä-nər-kē

also -ˌnär-\

plural monarchies

Definition of monarchy

1 : undivided rule or absolute sovereignty by a single person Saudi Arabia is governed by a monarchy.

2 : a nation or state having a monarchical government Britain is a monarchy.

3 : a government having a hereditary chief of state with life tenure and powers varying from nominal to absolute The country's hereditary monarchy survived for centuries.

Examples of monarchy in a Sentence

the French monarchy of the 18th century

Recent Examples on the Web

The property had not been the subject of work for some years and had already been earmarked for renovation,’’ said Michael Stevens, keeper of the Privy Purse, who is responsible for monarchy accounts. — Danica Kirka, BostonGlobe.com, "Prince Harry, Meghan’s home renovations cost taxpayers $3m," 25 June 2019 Thus, marking it the day that America achieved independence from the monarchy—at least bureaucratically. — Alex Aronson, Popular Mechanics, "Why July 2nd Is Actually America's True Independence Day," 21 June 2019 Washington has also eased up on Saudi rival Qatar, after initially backing Riyadh's attempts to blockade its fellow Gulf monarchy. — Nic Robertson, CNN, "Khashoggi murder: Independent investigation blames Saudi Arabia for 'extrajudicial killing' of journalist," 19 June 2019 The absolute monarchy is a longtime U.S. ally, but under Trump, King Salman and his son, the crown prince, have become linchpins of American policy in the region. — Saphora Smith, NBC News, "Khashoggi murder: Rights investigator recommends probe of Saudi prince role," 19 June 2019 The Gulf monarchies had unleashed the scorched-Earth genocidal violence previously carried out by the fringes of Mr. Bashir’s regime in Darfur and South Sudan onto the streets of Khartoum for the very first time – and in front of cameras. — Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, "How horrors in Sudan undermined US trust in its top Arab allies," 12 June 2019 Aquarius represents the people (its opposite sign, Leo, symbolized the monarchy), and likewise, this air sign cares deeply about humanity. — Allure, "How the Sun's Position In Your Birth Chart Affects Your Zodiac Sign," 14 Aug. 2018 Khashoggi, a Saudi critic of the monarchy who wrote columns for The Washington Post, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October by a Saudi hit-team. — Washington Post, "Trump’s summit to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians is making things awkward for Arab allies," 21 June 2019 Doing different things makes the monarchy relevant. — Rachel E. Greenspan, Time, "Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Leaving the Charity They Share With Prince William and Kate Middleton," 20 June 2019

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