juggernaut
Americannoun
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any large, overpowering force or object, such as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.
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anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice.
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Chiefly British. A large, heavy vehicle, especially a truck.
noun
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a crude idol of Krishna worshipped at Puri and throughout Odisha (formerly Orissa) and Bengal. At an annual festival the idol is wheeled through the town on a gigantic chariot and devotees are supposed to have formerly thrown themselves under the wheels
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a form of Krishna miraculously raised by Brahma from the state of a crude idol to that of a living god
noun
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any terrible force, esp one that destroys or that demands complete self-sacrifice
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a very large lorry for transporting goods by road, esp one that travels throughout Europe
Discover More
A force, an idea, or a system of beliefs that overcomes opposition — especially if it does so ruthlessly — is called a “juggernaut.”
Other Word Forms
- Juggernautish adjective
Etymology
Origin of juggernaut
First recorded in 1630–40, in the sense of an idol of Krishna annually drawn on an enormous cart in Puri, Odisha, India; 1840–45 juggernaut for defs. 1, 2; from Hindi Jagannāth, from Sanskrit Jagannātha- “lord of the world”; Jagannath ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The juggernaut on Wall Street will demand that this happen as fast as humanly possible.
From MarketWatch
The original manga also sets it apart from other Japanese juggernauts like "One Piece", which spans over 100 volumes compared to just 23 for "Demon Slayer".
From Barron's
When these columns first began reporting on the misuse of shareholder proxy votes for political causes, the trend looked like a juggernaut.
Even so, the benefits of the American juggernaut are yet to be realized fully.
Here, the CEO who built the company into a juggernaut talks about how the unconventional network fought its way into the mainstream.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.