overlord

[ oh-ver-lawrd ]

noun

1. a person who is lord over another or over other lords:

   to obey the will of one's sovereign and overlord.

2. a person of great influence, authority, power, or the like:

   the overlords of industry.

verb (used with object)

1. to rule or govern arbitrarily or tyrannically; domineer.

overlord

/ ˈəʊvəˌlɔːd /

noun

1. a supreme lord or master

Derived Forms

• ˈoverˌlordship, noun

Other Words From

• over·lordship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of overlord¹

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; over-, lord

Example Sentences

As long as the press remains shackled by the gilded chains of billionaire overlords, freedom lies in chains as well, leaving us in a world of corporate domination.

From Salon

The headlong rush into streaming fragmentation was driven, it seems, by a desire to spike short-term quarterly earnings reports to please the Wall Street overlords.

From Salon

“Romulus” is set between the events of “Alien” and “Aliens,” two of the four movies built around Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and everything her corporate overlords stole from her: motherhood, stability and plain old peace.

From Salon

As the sport’s No. 1 attraction, he has the leverage to be taken seriously by the team’s corporate overlords at Guggenheim Baseball Management.

From Los Angeles Times

It's not as if they needed to, since most of what these superhuman overlords say and do are slight variations of what Donald Trump promises at his rallies, along with Fox News pundits' talking points.

From Salon