Thesaurus results for PATRIARCH

patriarch

noun

Definition of patriarch

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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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 patriarch First there’s Iya Segi (Iyabo Ojo), the authority in the house, to whom everyone except the patriarch must bow; the other women must seek her approval for their wants and needs. — Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026 Romano plays the family’s patriarch and Rita Wilson plays the deceased matriarch. — Peter White, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026 The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning and grandson of family patriarch Archie Manning has endorsements with major brands such as Red Bull, Vuori athletic wear and Google Gemini artificial intelligence, to name a few. — Jim Vertuno, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026 As in The History of New York, the Dutch patriarchs are invariably idle and quiescent. — Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for patriarch

Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch

Noun

The job-for-life that Fink remembers looked a lot like the one Farley went on to describe about his own grandfather, who worked for Ford.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
But where John Steinbeck’s novel and the 1955 film made by Kazan’s grandfather Elia Kazan render her as a cipher, the embodiment of an unknowable evil, the Netflix version gives her far more texture and context.

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of grandfather

Noun

Sisters Barani and Malu were born to first-time mom Ndari and dad Rakan at the Fort Worth Zoo on July 1 and weigh about 18 to 20 pounds each, or about the same as a large pumpkin, 13 weeks later.

— Yi-Jin Yu, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
Now dad and mom, who have been transporting them around for years in club softball, will have to begin looking for the cheapest flights to Tallahassee.

— Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of dad

Noun

In comparison, LaBeouf has long been open about his tumultuous childhood and has said that his father was a recovering addict, and at times abusive.

— Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026
Charles’ brothers, Frederick, David and Bill, also inherited stakes in the company after their father’s death.

— Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of father

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“Patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarch. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of patriarch

noun

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