paterfamilias
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.
Burden internalized this pattern, of foregrounding the importance of the paterfamilias at the expense of real intimacy, of keeping up appearances despite the private pain.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
Mr. Junod’s “In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man” is one of the great literary tributes to a complex paterfamilias in recent memory.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
There were meant to be so many rebels that they could be split into 'five families', a label that even one paterfamilias privately lamented "makes us look ridiculous".
From BBC • Dec. 13, 2023
The current paterfamilias, Michel, who’s in his mid-60s, has been cooking his whole life, and while you could say he makes food, it feels more like an expression of love.
From New York Times • Nov. 22, 2023
And nor did I mistake for long Pierrot, much shriveled and with a shining pate I wanted to put my hand on, but still twinkly as ever and very much the paterfamilias.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Vocabulary lists containing paterfamilias
Ancient Rome - Middle School and High School
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The Roman Republic, Lessons 3–4
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