as in territory
a small country that is controlled and protected by a larger one
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Recent Examples of protectorate
According to Filomeno Aguilar, Jr, once the Europeans were gone, the hacenderos kowtowed to the Americans, offering the island as a protectorate in the hopes of securing favorable access to the lucrative US market for their sugar.
—
JSTOR Daily, 19 Nov. 2025
In the lush Bujang Valley, farmers live in the long shadow of the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty (also known as the Bangkok Treaty), in which Thailand ceded a portion of its southern land to Malaysia, which was then a British protectorate.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
And, Isaac, a lot of people have been speaking about Israel becoming an American protectorate.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
This article has been updated to delete the reference to his remarks about the protectorate.
—Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for protectorate
JSTOR Daily, 19 Nov. 2025
In the lush Bujang Valley, farmers live in the long shadow of the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty (also known as the Bangkok Treaty), in which Thailand ceded a portion of its southern land to Malaysia, which was then a British protectorate.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
And, Isaac, a lot of people have been speaking about Israel becoming an American protectorate.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
This article has been updated to delete the reference to his remarks about the protectorate.
—Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for protectorate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for protectorate
Noun
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For nearly a millennia and half, even in the centuries when physicians were beginning to supplant priests in treating the ill, epileptic convulsions (unexpected, frightening, enigmatic) remained the territory of the priest.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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Currently in post-production, the film is already set for distribution across German-speaking territories, with Pandora Film (Germany), Filmladen Filmverleih (Austria), and Filmcoopi (Switzerland) aboard.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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As always, the Fed faces its dual mandates for stable consumer prices that will grow at a relatively low and even rate, and for maximum employment, given current economic conditions.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Later, when the Biden Administration issued vaccine mandates, that fight was taken up by rising conservatives such as the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.—
Alexander Nazaryan,
New Yorker,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Each additional layer - model providers, orchestration frameworks, retrieval systems, monitoring tools - introduces new failure modes, new costs, and new dependencies.—
Abdo Riani,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
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The consequences of that dependency were evident after Broadcom's acquisition of VMware, when customers reported price increases ranging from 800% to 1,500%, with little recourse beyond acceptance or costly migration.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Protectorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/protectorate. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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