patriarchs

noun

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 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 After that session, the three patriarchs began reaching out to other heavyweight clans. — Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 27 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarchs
  1. fathers
  2. grandfathers
  3. dads
Noun
  • Those girls in the hothouses maintained by fathers and uncles certainly would not spare a single thought for Percherette.
    — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Nearly every player on the team is a dad, with seemingly a few players becoming first-time fathers each of the past few seasons.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of fathers
Noun
  • 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
  • Nearly a century after his great-grandfathers played college football, USC freshman defensive lineman Luke Wafle is emerging as a generational talent.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of grandfathers
Noun
  • Mitt reminds me of these famous sports dads — Earl Woods, Richard Williams, Marv Marinovich — who put a golf club or tennis racket or football in their kids’ cribs.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Xu Fu and Ma Junsheng also play surrogate dads to Seif, whose increasingly violent eruptions threaten to change the course of his life more than once.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of dads

Browse Nearby Words

patriarchal
patriarchs
patrician
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Cite this Entry

“Patriarchs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarchs. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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