How to Use matriarchy in a Sentence

matriarchy

noun
  • For 20 years, the country was ruled as a matriarchy.
  • Go figure, the whole thing was a matriarchy from the start.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2026
  • Andor is a matriarchy, and so the role of heir falls to his younger sister, Elayne.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 18 Dec. 2024
  • In a matriarchy he would be legally required to wear sweaters that show off his collar and hip bones at all times.
    — Jenny Singer, Glamour, 15 May 2022
  • In parts of the south, Hindus have a long tradition of matriarchy.
    — The Economist, 15 Mar. 2018
  • Sharp Objects suggests that matriarchy, too, can have its issues.
    — Ellen Gray, Philly.com, 5 July 2018
  • This is the rare movie to deal with the matriarchy that dominates black American culture.
    — Armond White, National Review, 7 July 2021
  • Another was to seek out support within a Black matriarchy of family and friends.
    — New York Times, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Ocellaris clownfish exist in matriarchies headed by the largest and most aggressive member of the school, who rules as a female.
    — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, 28 June 2018
  • Spottswoode was cast in the wine press as a kind of Napa matriarchy, an oenological gynocracy.
    — Jay McInerney, Town & Country, 23 Mar. 2018
  • This doesn't, however, mean that men are discriminated against in matriarchies.
    — Eliza Anyangwe and Melissa Mahtani, CNN, 3 Aug. 2023
  • In its entirety, the demand for a matriarchy is a demand for the end of systemic violence of all kinds that are upheld by patriarchy.
    — Sebastian Matthew, Billboard, 24 Aug. 2017
  • Family and matriarchy is the theme of this Disney film, perfect to watch for Mother’s Day.
    — oregonlive, 7 May 2022
  • But even social orders don't exist in a binary choice between patriarchies and matriarchies.
    — Eliza Anyangwe and Melissa Mahtani, CNN, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The key to that arc is watching the entire Alverez-Riera matriarchy come together to support the young woman.
    — refinery29.com, 11 May 2018
  • Advances in metallurgy sparked the demise of matriarchy in the first place, 5,000 years ago, leading to a growth of weaponry and war.
    — Nora Krug, Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Aside from matriarchies as detailed above, the study also identified five other ways societies decide lineage.
    — Eliza Anyangwe and Melissa Mahtani, CNN, 3 Aug. 2023
  • June Cleaver and Carol Brady remain the paradigms of chipper blond matriarchy.
    — Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Aug. 2020
  • Even in a year with a surge in female candidates, not only is a matriarchy unlikely, but significant Democratic gains are far from assured.
    — Charlotte Alter, Time, 18 Jan. 2018
  • For the novel’s long middle, Hargrave slows the narrative down to explore the fascinating daily lives of a matriarchy isolated in the frozen north.
    — Eliot Schrefer, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2020
  • In Barbie’s Dreamhouse — now restored alongside the matriarchy — Ken still struggles with his identity.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2024
  • It wouldn’t be farfetched to describe the set, both on location in New Zealand and on the Disney lot in California, as a matriarchy.
    — TIME.com, 19 Dec. 2017
  • Something that’s always difficult for me, personally, in fictional scenarios is when a female character pushes back against the idea of matriarchy.
    — Katie Rife, Vulture, 25 Apr. 2024
  • Women enjoy the status of goddesses until one, Desirée, does something that threatens their imperious matriarchy.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 14 Sep. 2021
  • Her finished image of the running Virgin was part of a larger triptych that celebrates working-class Chicanas of different ages and body types — and the idea of matriarchy itself.
    — New York Times, 18 Sep. 2021
  • Although researchers have since largely dismissed the idea of a matriarchy, some intriguing evidence suggests relatively high levels of gender equality.
    — Jennifer Hattam, Discover Magazine, 27 July 2016
  • The family was a matriarchy, committed to dissolving the boundaries between the daily work of art and the daily work of care—a feminist project more enduring and surreal than any single romance or school of painting.
    — Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2020
  • There’s a lot to unpack in the notion of Handler as God, creating the perfect woman, to be placed in an idyllic matriarchy—and the inevitable chaos that will ensue when Barbie leaves this paradise.
    — Time, 27 June 2023
  • Prior to their dominance, many societies were organized around principles of matriarchy, reciprocity and communal care.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, refinery29.com, 19 Dec. 2024
  • The boy comes from writer-director Mike Mills’ memories of growing up in a benevolent, amorphous, vexing, highly stimulating matriarchy.
    — Michael Phillips, The Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'matriarchy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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