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

When the potentate heard, however, that his dearest wish had been thwarted in this way, he refused to allow the vessel to enter the harbour, and all the presents had to be brought back again.

From The Romance of Industry and Invention by Cochrane, Robert