conquistador

American  

[kon-kwis-tuh-dawr, kong-, kawng-kees-tah-thawr] / kɒnˈkwɪs təˌdɔr, kɒŋ-, kɔŋˌkis tɑˈðɔr /

noun

conquistadors, plural conquistadores plural

1. one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century.

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conquistador British  

/ kɒnˈkwɪstəˌdɔː, konkistaˈðor /

noun

1. an adventurer or conqueror, esp one of the Spanish conquerors of the New World in the 16th century

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• conquistadors
  plural
• conquistadores
  plural

Etymology

Origin of conquistador

1540–50; < Spanish equivalent to conquist ( ar ) to conquer ( see conquest) + -ador -ator

Explanation

A conquistador is a person who is out to conquer new territory. A conquistador was the name given to the Fifteenth-to-Seventeenth century Spanish and Portugese soldiers who conquered much of the world, most famously the Central and Southern Americas. Not nice guys, but effective, and the term is still used today to describe certain people — ruthless business types, etc — who are brutally efficient at what they do. The most famous conquistador was the Spanish adventurer, Hernando Cortes, who subdued the mighty Aztec Empire of Mexico. The word comes, not surprisingly, from the Spanish verb conquistar, "to conquer."

Example Sentences

Jonathan Cake cuts a dashing figure as Willy’s brother Ben, who has grown in Willy’s imagination into a fabulous conquistador.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador who blasted his way through Aztec Mexico, complained about them in a 1525 letter to his master, the Holy Roman Emperor.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2025

Others credit Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who got a taste of chocolate after being served Xocolatl by Montezuma himself.

From Salon • Feb. 17, 2025

A statue of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro has been reinstalled in the centre of Peru's capital Lima, more than 20 years after it was removed.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2025

‘One of the ghosts on the balcony was wearing conquistador armour,’ Nico recalled.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan