as in grandfather
a man who is the head of a family
Investors worried that the aging patriarch was soon to be replaced atop the family business by his less reliable oldest son.
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Recent Examples of patriarch
The Alexander family, who stewarded their patriarch’s operation for more than eight decades, eventually passed it into the capable hands of Annie and David Colquitt (owners of the nearby luxury resort The Swag) in 2020.
—
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Isaacs played patriarch in crisis Timothy Ratliff, while Hook, Nivola, and Schwarzenegger respectively played Piper, Lochlan, and Saxon Ratliff, three rich kids with a fascinating (some might say shocking) sibling dynamic.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025
The first season ended with patriarch Horace Bellaire marrying Kimmie from his hospital bed, leaving her his inheritance and appointing her as the company's new head.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Popes and Orthodox patriarchs honor him, and Pärt’s music has received the highest levels of recognition, including Grammy Awards.
—Jeffers Engelhardt, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patriarch
Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Isaacs played patriarch in crisis Timothy Ratliff, while Hook, Nivola, and Schwarzenegger respectively played Piper, Lochlan, and Saxon Ratliff, three rich kids with a fascinating (some might say shocking) sibling dynamic.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025
The first season ended with patriarch Horace Bellaire marrying Kimmie from his hospital bed, leaving her his inheritance and appointing her as the company's new head.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Popes and Orthodox patriarchs honor him, and Pärt’s music has received the highest levels of recognition, including Grammy Awards.
—Jeffers Engelhardt, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patriarch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch
Noun
-
La Luz del Mundo was founded by Joaquin's grandfather, Eusebio Joaquin Gonzalez, in 1926 and was later led by Joaquin's father, Samuel Joaquin Flores.—
Luc Cohen,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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This is not your father’s or grandfather’s Atherton High School football program, and never was that more evident than Tuesday’s practice at the school.—
Rich Barak,
Louisville Courier Journal,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
An affable dad who avoids divisive topics like politics and religion in favor of gentler, autobiographical material that tends to cast him as a well-meaning fool, the Tennessee native is also the rare comic capable of appealing to, or at least not actively alienating, a broad swathe of viewers.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Jac, on the other hand, took his dad's lead into the world of sports broadcasting.—
Nasha Smith,
PEOPLE,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Celebrating the assassination of a 31 year old father of two young kids is disturbing; that teachers would be among those who do so is completely unacceptable.—
Amy DeLaura,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
His father, a hard-working Russian immigrant and patriotic US bomber pilot, taught him to respect authority.—
Martine Paris,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In a sense this is a classic family drama: the struggle over the paterfamilias’s legacy, complete with allegations of late-in-life changes to the will.—
Benjamin Soskis,
Town & Country,
27 Oct. 2022
-
Schumer’s actions as paterfamilias of Senate Democrats are often informed by his New York sensibilities.—
Grace Segers,
The New Republic,
13 Sep. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarch. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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