chieftain

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The most straightforward, and successful, parts recount the 1836 abduction of a Mexican rancher’s wife named Camila by an Apache band led by the larger-than-life chieftain Mangas Coloradas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

“What were we supposed to do? Watch them get slaughtered and be silent?” said Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual chieftain of the 150,000-strong Druze community in Israel.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2025

Charity Adams, changed back to “Fort Lee,” I can only imagine how the SCV and others would respond to a re-renaming after any Lee other than their holy Confederate chieftain.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2025

Now, the mercenary chieftain would be subordinated to Mr. Shoigu, an unparalleled political survivor in modern Russia and Mr. Prigozhin’s sworn enemy.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2023

When she was twenty years old, she was captured by a chieftain during a raid by the Southern Hsiung-nu.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston