Thesaurus results for PATRIARCH

patriarch

noun

Definition of patriarch

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.

Related Words

Relevance

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 For nine seasons, veteran stage and screen actor John Forsythe played the ruthless oil tycoon and family patriarch Blake Carrington. — Maggie Fremont, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Aug. 2026 The next day, Luwi had a similar daydream, but this time the disapproving patriarch was Gajdusek. — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 In their place are flawed geniuses and idiosyncratic personalities thrust together in the dregs of intelligence services, operating like a dysfunctional family under its disreputable patriarch. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2026 The Andy family, whose patriarch grew up in Miami before moving to New Jersey where the family still runs the popular La Mer Resort, gave the land to the Miami Blue Chapter of the National Butterfly Association. — Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, 17 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for patriarch

Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch

Noun

He was further informed that Freya’s grandfather survived the devastating Russian siege of Bucha in 2022.

— Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
His mother had told him a man named Elvin Hunt might have been King’s biological grandfather instead of the person listed as King’s grandfather of record.

— Tommy Orange, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of grandfather

Noun

Nuclear Children follows 18-year-old Isla Sparrow who, after the death of her father in a submarine accident, hopes to escape her grieving family and flee to university.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
In the story, Ejva inherits her father’s reindeer herd following his sudden death.

— Marta Balaga, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026