Thesaurus results for MATRIARCH

matriarch

noun

ˈmā-trē-ˌärk

Definition of matriarch

as in dowager

a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority even though she was 87, the matriarch of the family knew everything that was going on

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of matriarch The pic has Lange playing the emotionally troubled and addiction-plagued matriarch Mary Tyrone. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026 Jeon Do-yeon, who plays the family’s matriarch, is colorfully slinky as a globe-trotting party widow, a vain, compulsively seductive narcissist who macks on her daughters’ men like a Real Housewife given a villain’s edit. — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026 The announcement came shortly after the death of Diane Keaton, who played the Stone family matriarch Sybil in the first movie. — Jack Dunn, Variety, 23 Sep. 2026 The streamer has picked up a drama called How to Survive Without Me, about a family dealing with the loss of its matriarch. — Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for matriarch

Recent Examples of Synonyms for matriarch

Noun

The show’s underpinned by the differences in character and country of Lady Cora and her formidable mother-in-law, the dowager Countess Violet Crawley, played by the equally formidable and much missed Dame Maggie Smith.

— Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 22 July 2025
The empress dowager’s legacy Empress Dowager Ling was largely unsuccessful in her bid for power.

— Stephanie Balkwill, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2025

Definition of dowager

Noun

The driver and bus matron apparently bypassed the daycare location and mistakenly dropped Ka'Mylah somewhere in between, and the child navigated her way home on her own.

— Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026
An extremely unattractive teenage girl who resembled a forty-year-old matron in a women’s prison rather than a young woman fresh on the road to self-discovery approached me.

— Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of matron

Browse Nearby Words

matins

matriarch

matriarchal

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“Matriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/matriarch. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of matriarch

noun

Example Sentences

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