as in monarch
one who rules over a people with a sole, supreme, and usually hereditary authority
the aging ruler agonized over the choice of an heir
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ruler
Hopes for a more democratic future for Iran may now lie in tatters, as Mojtaba’s elevation sends an unmistakable message about where Iran’s hardline rulers wish to take the regime.
—
Cnn Staff, CNN Money, 8 Mar. 2026
An emergency summit is convened, where the genial George is joined by louder, angrier rulers from across the animal kingdom.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026
Each group of animals has its own ruler.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
Kurds make up about a tenth of Iran’s population, and the ethnic group’s other national factions in Iraq and Syria have allied with the US in prior decades to fight those countries’ rulers.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruler
Cnn Staff, CNN Money, 8 Mar. 2026
An emergency summit is convened, where the genial George is joined by louder, angrier rulers from across the animal kingdom.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2026
Each group of animals has its own ruler.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2026
Kurds make up about a tenth of Iran’s population, and the ethnic group’s other national factions in Iraq and Syria have allied with the US in prior decades to fight those countries’ rulers.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ruler
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ruler
Noun
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According to another royal butler, Grant Harrold—who served as Charles’s butler, including when Charles married Camilla in 2005—the monarch’s mood was much different after his second wedding on April 9 of that year.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
16 Mar. 2026
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Four years later, Iran's monarch was himself was overthrown in the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.—
Younes Mohammad,
USA Today,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The voices captured on that wall belong not to emperors or senators, but to lovers, laborers, sports fans, and artists who left their marks in a corridor between two theaters, never imagining those marks would still be read 2,000 years later.—
Ryan Brennan,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Mar. 2026
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Russell Crowe, 'Gladiator’ (2001) Crowe's Roman warrior Maximus, a general banished to slavery thanks to a petulant young emperor (Joaquin Phoenix) who rises back to glory, is a throwback to old-school Hollywood action heroes that still works.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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All of Mabel’s new forest friends—there are deer, rabbits, turtles, raccoons, and a singularly gloomy bear—bow down to a beaver sovereign, King George (Bobby Moynihan), a gregarious and naïve soul who embraces a humble, communal ideal of living.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2026
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Whatever their precise content, the blessings of liberty allow people to be something like sovereigns over their own lives.—
Cass Sunstein,
Big Think,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In the previously unseen photo the future king shared on March 15, Diana and William—who looks to be roughly the age of a toddler—are seen in a field of flowers.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
15 Mar. 2026
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Harry recently met up with his father, King Charles, and there are rumors that the two will meet up again when the king visits the US for a state visit in April.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
15 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ruler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ruler. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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