How to Use patriarch in a Sentence

patriarch

noun
  • Our grandfather was the family's patriarch.
  • The tribe's patriarch ruled for 20 years before his death.
  • Then the patriarch puts his foot down.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 11 Aug. 2025
  • The patriarch was killed off this season in a murder-for-hire plot.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 14 Dec. 2024
  • Joseph Mul is the 87-year-old patriarch.
    — Cecilia Vega, CBS News, 3 May 2026
  • The patriarch of the group sat cross-legged in the sand, rubbing the soreness from his wife’s feet.
    — Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2020
  • The patriarch claimed he was cut off by his daughter but had never stopped loving her.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 26 Dec. 2025
  • And sure enough, an incident with that horse suggests that the patriarch may be in over his head.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Dec. 2025
  • When the family patriarch starts to get sick, his kids see a chance to take his place and rise to power.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Legs crossed and hands in the pockets of a stylish suit, Thomas appears as a proud patriarch.
    — Janette Greenwood, The Conversation, 8 Mar. 2021
  • Of the 14 men who joined the group, many are the patriarchs of large families.
    — Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The Greek patriarch will light candles and then the flame is passed from one candle to the next.
    — Sam Mednick, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The patriarch had seen other people create and fail to release films in the past.
    — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Sep. 2025
  • In that episode, the patriarch dies and chaos ensues for the family and for the business.
    — Sara Fischer, Axios, 9 Dec. 2024
  • And while the patriarch may have been the sole business leader, their heirs often find that there is more than one role to fill.
    — Dennis Jaffe, Forbes, 28 Apr. 2021
  • And so he is married off against his will, and forcibly pushed into the role of a family patriarch.
    — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Only the patriarch of the pride eludes them, its paw prints indicating its mighty size.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2022
  • The pack’s patriarch died in captivity of wounds incurred while in the wild.
    — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 8 July 2025
  • The patriarch shares six adult children with his first wife, My Skarsgård.
    — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
  • Only then did Gaston’s eldest see that the patriarch was dead.
    — Simon Akam, Vanity Fair, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The very same family that fed me, the patriarch of the family is a pastor.
    — Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2024
  • Avraham, his son, would be the first patriarch, from whom Isaac and then Jacob would emerge.
    — Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 26 Oct. 2020
  • The show focused on his life as the patriarch of the Osbourne family.
    — Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 23 July 2025
  • At a midnight Mass, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem asked people to look for the light.
    — Andrew jeong, Washington Post, 25 Dec. 2023
  • His three adult children have amassed huge social media followings, just like their patriarch.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
  • But now, all eyes are on the Dutton's patriarch, played by Kevin Costner.
    — Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 11 Jan. 2021
  • The Marmont is less a single bag than a family of bags with Michele as the patriarch.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 11 Sep. 2024
  • How could the government just snatch the family’s patriarch and then leave him to a winter night’s mercy?
    — Dan Barry, New York Times, 12 May 2026
  • This whodunnit opens like an old-school murder mystery, with a rich family, a big creepy house and a dead patriarch.
    — Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The patriarch, who started the digging, had recently suffered a stroke and needed help just to go down the stairs.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 13 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'patriarch.' 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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