How to Use theocrat in a Sentence

theocrat

noun
  • But the theocrats remain in charge.
    — Nancy A. Youssef, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2026
  • This is a message, not only to the theocrats in Tehran but to the rest of us.
    — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Iran’s theocrats have proved perfectly willing to keep order by force.
    — The Economist, 12 May 2018
  • Indeed, most of the time, they should be ignored — nobody wants, or, at least, should want, a government run by theocrats.
    — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, 30 Apr. 2018
  • Obama speaks of government as a theocrat might speak of church, and his fans return the favor by treating him like a pope.
    — David Harsanyi, The Denver Post, 16 Jan. 2017
  • More Iranians are eager for ideas different than the dictates of unelected theocrats.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Oct. 2017
  • Thomas Paine, of all people, was enlisted in the cause of an out-and-out theocrat, and the person who did so quoted him from the wrong pamphlet anyway.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 12 Dec. 2017
  • Indeed, the Judge’s nationally renowned reputation as a grim theocrat is both his greatest strength and weakness.
    — Ed Kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, 26 Aug. 2017
  • Rafsanjani’s death reflects a growing reality for Tehran’s theocrats.
    — Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2017
  • There's no way this passes constitutional muster unless the new majority on the Supreme Court goes full theocrat.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 29 June 2017
  • Well a Republican Senate candidate is being denounced as a would-be theocrat for saying that men have a duty to lead.
    — Fox News, 21 Sep. 2018
  • Handjani said, pointing to the power of Khamenei and Iran’s Guardian Council, a body of theocrats that has the final say on all matters of the state.
    — Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2018
  • What terrifies Iran’s theocrats the most, the fear that eclipses all their fears, is the ability of the people at large to clearly see the essential realities of the present regime.
    — Azadeh Moaveni, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Victory for the theocrat would be a fillip for them, perhaps leading to a string of primary challenges to sitting Republicans next year.
    — The Economist, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Well, the head of the regime was, in this case, the Ayatollah, who is the chief military commander who also happens to be a theocrat with apocalyptic plans for the world.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The veil has served as one of the most potent and visible symbols of the Islamic republic, a system in which ultimate authority resides with unelected theocrats.
    — Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The fanatic Islamist theocrats in Iran, with their proxies, are responsible for killing and maiming many Americans since 1979.
    — Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Iran’s president has important sway over domestic affairs and as the face of Iran to the world, but all key policies such as diplomatic initiatives must be cleared by Khamenei and his inner circle of unelected theocrats.
    — Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, 19 May 2017
  • The theocrats in both Tehran and Kabul at least kept a lid on the Islamic State presence in the region, which poses a major threat to Central and South Asia.
    — Mihir Sharma, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Skepticism about Enlightenment values, in his view, comes from leftist humanities professors and highbrow-magazine editors who have read too much Nietzsche, or from theocrats on the right.
    — Alison Gopnik, The Atlantic, 17 Mar. 2018
  • The Gulf Arabs had long seen the revolutionary theocrats in Tehran as their biggest threat, and Syria’s long-standing alliance with them—forged by Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad—was a sore point with all of the other Arab leaders.
    — Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2026
  • Roy Moore is a vehicle for collecting suckers, for liberating them from their responsibility as citizens in a self-governing republic, and anybody who thinks this waterheaded theocrat belongs in the United States Senate is a dupe and a fool.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 12 Dec. 2017

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