as in dominion
controlling power or influence over others
a nation whose economic imperium waned after the war
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of imperium
Everyone in the imperium knows the emperor is a nincompoop—and yet no one wants to go out on a limb to criticize him.
—
Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
The Islamic Republic of Iran is motivated by a desire to bring about the end times and usher in an everlasting Islamic imperium.
—Mike Coté, National Review, 20 July 2025
Nintendo has built a reputation on its willingness to catch fans off-guard, and a shutterbug adventure was the last thing anyone expected at the zenith of Pokemon’s imperium.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Poland, through a protest movement, led the liberation of Europe from the Soviet imperium, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 5 May 2024
Even the Commonwealth—long a convenient way to sustain a more symbolic form of cultural imperium—has lost much of its meaning.
—Fintan O’Toole, Foreign Affairs, 21 Feb. 2023
Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025
The Islamic Republic of Iran is motivated by a desire to bring about the end times and usher in an everlasting Islamic imperium.
—Mike Coté, National Review, 20 July 2025
Nintendo has built a reputation on its willingness to catch fans off-guard, and a shutterbug adventure was the last thing anyone expected at the zenith of Pokemon’s imperium.
—Luke Winkie, Vulture, 18 June 2025
Poland, through a protest movement, led the liberation of Europe from the Soviet imperium, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 5 May 2024
Even the Commonwealth—long a convenient way to sustain a more symbolic form of cultural imperium—has lost much of its meaning.
—Fintan O’Toole, Foreign Affairs, 21 Feb. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imperium
Noun
-
Stars asserted dominion over their kingdom, their names airbrushed on walls (Bow Wow) and etched into marble floors (Missy Elliott).—
Kim Hew-Low,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The history of premodern Southeast Asia, where small kingdoms competed and traded without coming under the dominion of China or India, suggests a different model.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Everything bops breezily along, stopping occasionally to have Dek growl maxims about strength through domination, and observe a decapitation or two.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
4 Nov. 2025
-
By 1974, though, many women had already discarded those notions as instruments of domination, psychic equivalents of the whalebone corset.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
As South Asian publics have pushed back against governments closely aligned with New Delhi, Beijing has asserted itself, courting new regimes with loans and military hardware and stressing respect for their sovereignty.—
MUHIB RAHMAN,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Nov. 2025
-
Leader Xi Jinping has pushed to modernize the military, particularly the navy, to challenge US dominance in the South China Sea and assert sovereignty claims over Taiwan.—
Brendan Ruberry,
semafor.com,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Leader Xi Jinping has pushed to modernize the military, particularly the navy, to challenge US dominance in the South China Sea and assert sovereignty claims over Taiwan.—
Brendan Ruberry,
semafor.com,
10 Nov. 2025
-
This trend suggests to me that the global dominance of English has diminished the need—and, over time, the desire—for native speakers to expand their linguistic terrain.—
Ross Benjamin,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
But a couple of decades later, the rise of big-box retailers that boasted lower prices, like Walmart and Target, challenged that supremacy.—
Phil Wahba,
Fortune,
7 Nov. 2025
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In benchmark tests using Random Circuit Sampling (RCS), the same method used by Google to demonstrate quantum supremacy, Helios achieved results that would be practically impossible for any classical supercomputer.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imperium.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imperium. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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