patriarch

Definition of patriarchnext
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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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 patriarch The 2017 and 2011 squads both finished as state runner-ups under the program’s patriarch, head coach Kirk Martin, who returned to lead the Mavericks in 2023 following a five-year hiatus at other coaching stops. — Jon Poorman, Houston Chronicle, 28 Sep. 2026 Domingo played the tyrannical show-biz patriarch Joe Jackson in the movie. — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 24 Sep. 2026 In Season 1, after the family patriarch dies, Kevin goes to Belle’s house to apologize, and the two reconcile. — Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026 In the early years of Mormonism, polygamy was understood to reinstate the patriarchal and polygamous cultural norms of the Hebrew patriarchs, as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for patriarch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch
Noun
  • Shiloh is now walking through the halls where her grandfather was a teacher, her aunt was a counselor and four of her five siblings went to school.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • His grandfather was English, and much of the shoot involved being at a different moor or castle with wild horses galloping around every other week, Nordrum says.
    — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Princess Diana famously wore dad sneakers on her school runs, forever solidifying the chunky shoe as a must-have in fashionable closets worldwide.
    — Renata Joffre, Glamour, 9 Oct. 2026
  • His father is a professor at Columbia University like your dad.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The trip marks the first visit by a Spanish monarch to the two cities since Felipe's father, Juan Carlos I, toured them in 2007.
    — JOSEPH WILSON, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026
  • For Rukhsar Amrohi, who also calls Kumari Chhoti Ammi, the film is a token of the couple’s love, made by her father out of his love for Kumari.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarch. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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