overlord

noun over·lord \ ˈō-vər-ˌlȯrd \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of overlord

1 : a lord over other lords : a lord paramount

2 a : an absolute or supreme ruler

b : one having great power or authority

a corporate overlord

—

overlordship

play \ˈō-vər-ˌlȯrd-ˌship, ˌō-vər-ˈlȯrd-\ noun

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Examples of overlord in a Sentence

He is the overlord of the underground gambling industry.

Recent Examples of overlord from the Web

But the system is still in the testing phase, so don’t worry too much about robot overlords snatching up construction jobs yet (though their help may just be in demand).

— liz stinson, Curbed, "Watch robots build a timber frame in no time," 10 Apr. 2018
And one significant advantage our potential robot overlords have on us is better sight.

— sy mukherjee, Fortune, "Brainstorm Health: Final Obamacare Numbers, Blood Flow Smartphone App, Lilly's Diabetes Play," 4 Apr. 2018
Plenty of popcorn-grabbing moments over the past few days as our tech overlords took potshots at each other.

— lara o’reilly, WSJ, "CMO Today: Zuckerberg and Cook Sound Off; Google Changes Reporting Metric; Fox News Responds to ‘Ingraham’ Ad Boycott," 3 Apr. 2018
Given that Sorrento is a buttoned-down, stony-faced idea-thief of an evil overlord, straight out of Tron, there’s not a lot of room for narrative nuance in this story.

— tasha robinson, The Verge, "Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One improves immensely on the book," 30 Mar. 2018
Indians overthrew their imperial overlords by Gandhian political resistance; Australians did so on the cricket field.

— tunku varadarajan, WSJ, "A Crisis Over Cricket Rocks Australia," 27 Mar. 2018
This means that every equivalent job in Starbucks's corporate infrastructure, from the baristas to the corporate overlords to the interns, will be compensated equally, regardless of the employee's gender identification or ethnicity.

— devon elizabeth, Glamour, "Starbucks Says It's Achieved Pay Equity For Women and Minorities," 21 Mar. 2018
The setup is mostly for the sake of flavor text and dispensed by everyone from screaming witnesses (like little kids asking why the heck all these robots are landing outside their window) to the dystopian future's corporate overlords.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Into the Breach review: Starship Troopers meets chess in a tactics masterpiece," 27 Feb. 2018
Indeed, for all the saber-rattling and ugliness this winter, baseball has a way of curing itself, despite the meddlings of its privileged overlords.

— gabe lacques, USA TODAY, "MLB win totals: How we see the 2018 season unfolding," 6 Feb. 2018

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

First Known Use of overlord

13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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OVERLORD Defined for English Language Learners

overlord

noun

Definition of overlord for English Language Learners

: a person who has power over a large number of people

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Britannica English: Translation of overlord for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about overlord

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overlord

Definition of overlord

overlordship

Examples of overlord in a Sentence

Recent Examples of overlord from the Web

First Known Use of overlord

OVERLORD Defined for English Language Learners

overlord

Definition of overlord for English Language Learners

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overlord

Definition of overlord

overlordship

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OVERLORD Defined for English Language Learners

overlord

Definition of overlord for English Language Learners

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