potentate

[ poht-n-teyt ]

noun

1. a person who possesses great power, as a sovereign, monarch, or ruler.

potentate

/ ˈpəʊtənˌteɪt /

noun

1. a person who possesses great power or authority, esp a ruler or monarch

Word History and Origins

Origin of potentate¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin potentātus potentate, Latin: power, dominion. See potent ¹, -ate ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of potentate¹

C14: from Late Latin potentātus ruler, from Latin: rule, command, from potens powerful, from posse to be able

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, their dominance of North Yemen proved unacceptable to the Saudis and the allied United Arab Emirates, whose secular potentate, Mohammed Bin Zayed, had long despised such Islamic political movements.

From Salon

Feinstein ruled over San Francisco like a potentate, hands on and fingernails dug in.

From Los Angeles Times

At Yale and Harvard, he encountered professors who “reigned as potentates, sure in the smugness of their positions, but utterly unaware of the lives of most Americans, including those that they professed to care about.”

From Washington Post

Church law says a pope can resign but the decision must be without outside pressure, a precaution that harkens back to the centuries when European potentates influenced the papacy.

From Reuters

Without any intervention by Nazi potentates, the refreshing and emotionally uplifting “waltzing bliss” was a perfect fit with National Socialist propaganda, in particular its broadcasting policy — as were Mozart and Lehár.

From New York Times

Related Words

• despot