paterfamilias

noun pa·ter·fa·mil·i·as \ ˌpa-tər-fə-ˈmi-lē-əs , ˌpä- , ˌpā- \

Definition of paterfamilias

plural patresfamilias play \ˌpā-ˌtrēz-, ˌpä-ˌtrās-\

1 : the male head of a household

2 : the father of a family

3 : a man who originates or is a leading figure in something (such as a movement, discipline, or enterprise)

See paterfamilias defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of paterfamilias from the Web

In our book, Bradley Whitford's paterfamilias is no less repugnant than Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal.

— lisa rosen, latimes.com, "Is 'Shape of Water' this year's 'Return of the King'? Looking to the past to predict the Oscars," 15 Feb. 2018
As in the Capra classic, the madcap proceedings swirl around an aged paterfamilias.

— andrea simakis, cleveland.com, "Eric Coble's world-premiere farce 'The Family Claxon' at Cleveland Public Theatre is a fun-house mirror for America (review)," 20 Oct. 2017
This paterfamilias has lazily added a too-big polo shirt, a freebie baseball cap and drugstore sunglasses.

— terrance flynn, WSJ, "Don’t Be That Guy: Avoiding Over-40 Style Pitfalls," 20 July 2017
Turns out more than one of the guests had a previous run-in with the troubled family — and a reason to dislike the paterfamilias.

— roberta alexander, The Mercury News, "It’s a Mystery: Rhys Bowen, Judith Flanders add to their series," 13 Mar. 2017

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