client state

noun

1. a country that is dependent on a larger and more powerful country for its political, economic, or military welfare.

Word History and Origins

Origin of client state¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Syria is a longtime client state, a species Russia increasingly sees as endangered by this wave of political change.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, the country became a military dictatorship—and, for close to 20 years, a client state of the Soviet Union.

From The Daily Beast