patriarchs

plural of patriarch
as in fathers
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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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of patriarchs In many family offices, dominant patriarchs are reluctant to cede control to their children. — Robert Frank, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026 In the early years of Mormonism, polygamy was understood to reinstate the patriarchal and polygamous cultural norms of the Hebrew patriarchs, as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026 As in The History of New York, the Dutch patriarchs are invariably idle and quiescent. — Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026 The patriarchs of élite white families banded together, organizing secret paramilitaries that could be activated on a moment’s notice. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026 Sometimes finding the right trees can be an adventure, hiking into forests and mountains to find the oldest trees, patriarchs that hold centuries of information. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 28 June 2026 Instead, Reynolds observes that these sober men bore little resemblance to the roistering patriarchs of the remote plantations. — James Traub, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 The road continues from Beersheba to Hebron, home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, purchased by Abraham some 3,800 years ago and traditionally regarded as the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. — Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026 What father would ever allow such devastation, assuring fellow patriarchs that their lives without sons would be ruined forever? — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarchs
Noun
  • Soon the fathers, mothers and grandparents cheering girls’ soccer teams will exchange their uncomfortable folding chairs for the hard bleacher seats of indoor soccer or basketball.
    — Christine Ledbetter, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Roughly 24 hours after the fathers told the court about the surrogate giving birth, Uthmeier’s office petitioned to intervene as a party in the court case.
    — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • One of my grandfathers was in the seminary and he was killed by the Republicans.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • His grandfathers are former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr and Tom Curtis, an All-America defensive back for the Wolverines, and his brother is Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Thank you to all my brothers blocking and having my back and my dads!
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Science Daily said that a 1982 study show that 43% of dads have never changed a diaper.
    — Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Patriarchs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarchs. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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