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 dog is not one of Gabby’s manifestations—the Gunn family patriarch has rescued the Jindo to help smooth out his political image when the family moves to their new campaign on a ranch estate in Rancho Santa Fe.
—
Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2025
But when Cadence refuses to oblige Harris, the patriarch remains tight-lipped to maintain the family’s shiny reputation, in true Sinclair fashion.
—Alyssa Davis, People.com, 19 June 2025
Oyelowo stars as Hampton Chambers, the patriarch of a family living in southern California’s San Fernando Valley in 1969.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 18 June 2025
Rupert Murdoch, 94, patriarch of the News Corp empire, last year lost a legal battle over control of his media businesses, including Fox News.
—Medora Lee, USA Today, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for patriarch
Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 June 2025
But when Cadence refuses to oblige Harris, the patriarch remains tight-lipped to maintain the family’s shiny reputation, in true Sinclair fashion.
—Alyssa Davis, People.com, 19 June 2025
Oyelowo stars as Hampton Chambers, the patriarch of a family living in southern California’s San Fernando Valley in 1969.
—Michael Schneider, Variety, 18 June 2025
Rupert Murdoch, 94, patriarch of the News Corp empire, last year lost a legal battle over control of his media businesses, including Fox News.
—Medora Lee, USA Today, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for patriarch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch
Noun
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Visiting a seafood market is an essential part of any trip to Japan, and Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market is the grandfather of them all.—
Jessica Kozuka,
Travel + Leisure,
12 July 2025
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But off to the side, Ricardo Mojica, a tall, silver-haired grandfather, quietly tried to talk to agents to find out what was happening with his son, who worked inside.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 July 2025
Noun
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Harrison, who is unaware of his dad's recovery, has demonstrated the family's dark proclivity for killing evildoers.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
12 July 2025
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Many of those memories have been alongside my dad, who not only watched many of these games with me, but was more than happy to load the grill with heaps of hot dogs and hamburgers to celebrate the occasion.—
Johnny Flores Jr,
New York Times,
12 July 2025
Noun
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His father, Scotty Robinson, also had a career in country music for a while, so clearly the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.—
Sid Evans,
Southern Living,
8 July 2025
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Turns out, Yun had fallen in love with Marcello’s father Alfredo (Luca Zingaretti) — a relationship that doesn’t seem to scandalize anyone, not even Marcello’s mom Lorella (Sabrina Ferilli).—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
8 July 2025
Noun
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There’s also a concern about acting as if your son were a source of shame, a secret to be hidden from the paterfamilias.—
Kwame Anthony Appiah,
New York Times,
9 Aug. 2022
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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
Cite this Entry
“Patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarch. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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