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

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

There, he walked down the street like a benign potentate, accepting compliments and memories, shaking hands and taking pictures with people on every corner.

From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2017

So, too, the cruel potentate may prove a kind husband and friend, as long as his own interests coincide, and do not conflict, with those of his friends or his family.

From A Review of the Systems of Ethics Founded on the Theory of Evolution by Williams, C. M.