as in grandfather
a man who is the head of a family
Investors worried that the aging patriarch was soon to be replaced atop the family business by his less reliable oldest son.
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Recent Examples of patriarch
Jesse Armstrong created Succession about the Roy family and their fight for control of the global media company amid concerns over the patriarch’s health.
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Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2024
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice finds Lydia Deetz (Ryder) and her stepmother, Delia (Catherine O’Hara) returning to Winter River for the funeral of the Deetz family patriarch, Charles.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
The series, written by Abby Ajayi, follows the exploits of the brash and wealthy Richards family after their patriarch suffers a sudden medical emergency.
—Katcy Stephan, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
Though Costner's character, the Dutton family patriarch, is featured in the trailer, the actor will not be reprising the role for the second half of season 5.
—Julia Moore, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for patriarch 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarch
Noun
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Rust tells the story of a 13-year-old boy (Patrick Scott McDermott) who accidentally kills a rancher in 1880s Wyoming and goes on the run with his grandfather, played by Baldwin as the title character, Harland Rust.Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2024
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He was named after Pitt’s grandfather PEOPLE previously reported that Knox was named after Pitt's grandfather, Hal Knox Hillhouse.Jordana Comiter, People.com, 19 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Your kids are going through school and the pressure’s already going to be immense with kids saying things because your dad’s an actor.Leigh Nordstrom, WWD, 20 Nov. 2024
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After meeting at one of Jelly’s shows in 2015, the couple eloped in Las Vegas in 2016, with Bunnie taking on the new role of stepmom with ease (Jelly is dad to daughter Bailee, 16, and son Noah, 8, from previous relationships).Rachel DeSantis, People.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Brown's father told the media outlet his son's donation saved four lives.Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2024
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Robert is a conservationist and zookeeper just like his father, who was killed by a stingray at age 44 when Robert was just 2 years old in 2006.Rachel DeSantis, People.com, 28 Nov. 2024
Noun
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There’s also a concern about acting as if your son were a source of shame, a secret to be hidden from the paterfamilias.Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2022
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In a sense this is a classic family drama: the struggle over the paterfamilias’s legacy, complete with allegations of late-in-life changes to the will.Benjamin Soskis, Town & Country, 27 Oct. 2022
Thesaurus Entries Near patriarch
Cite this Entry
“Patriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarch. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
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