potentate

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.

Stripping away the amour propre of a nuclear-armed potentate is a dangerous business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 18, 2025

With the cabinet not having met since 2018, all power flows through him, and like a potentate he receives a string of local officials and foreign dignitaries at his retreat.

From BBC • Jun. 19, 2025

Feinstein ruled over San Francisco like a potentate, hands on and fingernails dug in.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 29, 2023

At last year’s Barcelona Olympics, he was treated more as a potentate or rock star than a basketball player.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2022

Tuys was amused at the old queen's keenness and told me I had committed treason by making the Queen of England drink gin to placate a Swazi potentate.

From Adventures in Swaziland The Story of a South African Boer by O'Neil, Owen Rowe