juggernaut

Or Jug·ger·naut

[juhg-er-nawt, -not]

noun

1. any large, overpowering force or object, such as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.

2. anything requiring blind devotion or cruel sacrifice.

3. Chiefly British.,  A large, heavy vehicle, especially a truck.

Juggernaut

¹

/ ˈdʒʌɡəˌnɔːt /

noun

1. a crude idol of Krishna worshipped at Puri and throughout Odisha (formerly Orissa) and Bengal. At an annual festival the idol is wheeled through the town on a gigantic chariot and devotees are supposed to have formerly thrown themselves under the wheels

2. a form of Krishna miraculously raised by Brahma from the state of a crude idol to that of a living god

juggernaut

²

/ ˈdʒʌɡəˌnɔːt /

noun

1. any terrible force, esp one that destroys or that demands complete self-sacrifice

2. a very large lorry for transporting goods by road, esp one that travels throughout Europe

Juggernaut

1. A deity in Hinduism, considered a deliverer from sin. His image is carried on a large wagon in an annual procession in India, and according to legend the wagon crushed worshipers who threw themselves under it.

A force, an idea, or a system of beliefs that overcomes opposition — especially if it does so ruthlessly — is called a “juggernaut.”

Other Word Forms

• Juggernautish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Juggernaut¹

First recorded in 1630–40, in the sense of an idol of Krishna annually drawn on an enormous cart in Puri, Odisha, India; 1840–45 juggernaut for defs. 1, 2; from Hindi Jagannāth, from Sanskrit Jagannātha- “lord of the world”; Jagannath ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Juggernaut¹

C17: from Hindi Jagannath, from Sanskrit Jagannātha lord of the world (that is, Vishnu, chief of the Hindu gods), from jagat world + nātha lord

Example Sentences

It is a movement that, in little more than a decade, has become a juggernaut.

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It did not play like the star-studded juggernaut or villainous evil empire or ascendant dynastic power the rest of the baseball world had labeled it to be.

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Over the last decade, China has proven to be a pop culture juggernaut in its own right, capable of keeping its population of 1.3 billion entertained with homegrown media.

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How can it be that the Latin Grammys overlooked the very people who helped create one of the biggest Latin music juggernauts in history?

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The American couple swiftly transformed the band into a juggernaut.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• barrage 
• cavalcade