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The origin of regnant is straightforward: it comes from the Latin verb regnare, meaning "to reign." Regnare, in turn, traces back to the noun regnum, meaning "reign." (Regnum was bestowed with the meaning "kingdom" in English.) These words ultimately descend from rex, the Latin for "king" and a word familiar to those who have read or seen the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex.
Examples of regnant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, anti-Chinese sentiment has become not merely trendy, but politically regnant.
—
Sam Thielman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
Her opponent, nonprofit leader and billionaire's son Josh Kraft, and who's campaigning against what he's characterized as Wu's regnant leadership style.
—Mike Deehan, Axios, 19 Mar. 2025
Within many of our most crucial institutions, suppositions that would have been considered the height of lunacy even a few years ago have become regnant overnight.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 27 June 2023
This was not always the case in Japan — there have been eight empresses regnant throughout history — but the Imperial Household Law introduced in 1947 restricts the throne to the male line of succession and requires women who marry outside of the family to leave.
—Emily Krauser, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2023
Good luck with that: With too few exceptions, the Obama–Biden theory of Iran is the regnant Democratic theory of Iran.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 19 Mar. 2022
The trope tends to elegize artists who are perceived to be ahead of their time or otherwise inimical to regnant conventions.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 19 July 2021
Their leaders speak with a regnant air, hammering the notion that their return to power is all but inevitable.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2021
The people that once boldly threw off the tyranny of a distant monarch now seem to be meekly submitting to the diktats of a regnant class and ideology that tolerate less independence of thought and action than King George III did.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 12 Apr. 2021
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Sam Thielman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
Her opponent, nonprofit leader and billionaire's son Josh Kraft, and who's campaigning against what he's characterized as Wu's regnant leadership style.
—Mike Deehan, Axios, 19 Mar. 2025
Within many of our most crucial institutions, suppositions that would have been considered the height of lunacy even a few years ago have become regnant overnight.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 27 June 2023
This was not always the case in Japan — there have been eight empresses regnant throughout history — but the Imperial Household Law introduced in 1947 restricts the throne to the male line of succession and requires women who marry outside of the family to leave.
—Emily Krauser, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2023
Good luck with that: With too few exceptions, the Obama–Biden theory of Iran is the regnant Democratic theory of Iran.
—Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 19 Mar. 2022
The trope tends to elegize artists who are perceived to be ahead of their time or otherwise inimical to regnant conventions.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 19 July 2021
Their leaders speak with a regnant air, hammering the notion that their return to power is all but inevitable.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2021
The people that once boldly threw off the tyranny of a distant monarch now seem to be meekly submitting to the diktats of a regnant class and ideology that tolerate less independence of thought and action than King George III did.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 12 Apr. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Regnant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regnant. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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