as in dictator
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
like some pharaoh of a third-world country, more interested in building monuments to himself than in creating a future for his people
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Recent Examples of pharaoh
An ancient gold bracelet belonging to an Egyptian pharaoh that had disappeared from a museum in Cairo was stolen and later melted down, the country's Interior Ministry said Thursday.
—
Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
Small wonder that although the statue is expressive of Jordan’s signature, physically sprawling move, one leg is as stiff as a pharaoh’s, his feet are weirdly flat, his jersey is pooched as if a possum were wriggling inside it.
—Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2025
Leprosy still existed, pharaohs did not.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
For centuries, this fungus was feared as a silent killer lurking in ancient tombs, responsible for mysterious deaths and the legend of the pharaoh’s curse.
—Justin Stebbing, JSTOR Daily, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pharaoh
Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
Small wonder that although the statue is expressive of Jordan’s signature, physically sprawling move, one leg is as stiff as a pharaoh’s, his feet are weirdly flat, his jersey is pooched as if a possum were wriggling inside it.
—Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 30 Aug. 2025
Leprosy still existed, pharaohs did not.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
For centuries, this fungus was feared as a silent killer lurking in ancient tombs, responsible for mysterious deaths and the legend of the pharaoh’s curse.
—Justin Stebbing, JSTOR Daily, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pharaoh
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pharaoh
Noun
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He had been found guilty of conspiring to raise funds from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his campaign, and became the first post-World War II leader in France to go to jail.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
24 Oct. 2025
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These deployments are nothing more than partisan spite from an increasingly unhinged aspiring dictator, and the Supreme Court must halt them.—
Newsweek Contributors,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
As historian Timothy Snyder warns, tyrants will always take advantage of a national crisis to consolidate their power and remove their opponents’ civil liberties.—
Rev. Nathan Empsall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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So how should CHROs and other talent leaders handle reports of an office tyrant?—
Susan Caminiti,
CNBC,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pharaoh.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pharaoh. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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