Definition of PATRIARCHAL

Examples of patriarchal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

John Stanislaus—the only out-and-out reprehensible father in this patriarchal trinity—was also a violent drunk. — Maureen Corrigan, WSJ, "‘Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know’ Review: Prodigal Fathers, Difficult Sons," 25 Oct. 2018 Because of the patriarchal history of research (read: men did most of the research, so most research revolves around men), there isn’t a ton of data out there on women and their livelihoods, including their sexuality. — Amanda Mitchell, Marie Claire, "The "Wonderful Weirdness" of Female Sexuality," 23 Oct. 2018 And that plays into so many patriarchal myths about women being dirty, that menstruation has toxins. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "The internet’s favorite Goop critic Dr. Jen Gunter says ‘medical conspiracy theories’ are running amok online," 20 Aug. 2018 By appealing to the defense of the homeland, patriarchal nationalist discourse can capitalize on nationalist sentiment. — Huda Alsahi, Washington Post, "Saudi women can drive starting Sunday. Why are feminists there still labeled traitors?," 20 June 2018 Most of the action revolves around the ruthless, patriarchal town notary (Peter Rudolf, very good), who is preparing for his feckless son’s wedding. — David Lewis, kansascity, "In powerful ‘1945’, a town confronts its wartime guilt | The Kansas City Star," 5 Apr. 2018 Egypt, which also has a patriarchal society, was still more progressive than Saudi Arabia. — Lara Takenaga, New York Times, "For Saudi Women, Challenges Go Far Beyond Driving," 23 June 2018 But make time for this six-part miniseries, a searing criticism of patriarchal society (sound familiar?) embedded within a real-life murder mystery. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "The 20 Best TV Shows Of 2017," 29 Dec. 2017 Both queens were navigating life as monarchs in a traditional, patriarchal world while trying to remain in charge and well, alive. — Michaela Bechler, Vogue, "Mary Queen of Scots," 12 July 2018

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