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• juggernaut
  juggernaut

  noun

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

  noun

  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

juggernaut

American  

[juhg-er-nawt, -not] / ˈdʒʌg ərˌnɔt, -ˌnɒt /

Or Juggernaut

noun

• juggernauts
  plural

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.

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Juggernaut ¹ British  

/ 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

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juggernaut ² British  

/ 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

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Juggernaut Cultural  

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.

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Discover More

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

Derived Forms

• Juggernautish
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• juggernauts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of juggernaut

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”; see Jagannath ( def. )

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Explanation

Juggernaut means a massive force. If the army marching into your country is a juggernaut, you're doomed. If you're trying to market a new Cola product, you're up against corporate giant Coca-Cola, a beverage juggernaut if ever there was one. With its roots in Hindi, juggernaut originally referred to a crude statue from which the Hindu god, Brahma, turned into the living god, Krishna. There continues to be a festival in honor of this miracle, in which a statue of Krishna is carted through town. It is said that in times past, devotees would throw themselves under the cart’s wheels.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

juggernaut Juggernaut juggernauts

It lacks the quirky originality that made “Once” an unexpected Broadway juggernaut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Cornyn, the longtime incumbent, is a fundraising juggernaut and party stalwart who had never lost an election.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

The fast-fashion company became a juggernaut by pumping out a never-ending supply of clothes at super-cheap prices, creating a constant churn of microtrends for consumers to chase.

From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026

Windows on the World became a culinary juggernaut that changed American dining culture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

S'pose Dad'd been mangled by a juggernaut on the M5 and the police only had this office number ’cause all his other I.D.'d got incinerated?

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Juggernaut Fund LP is the private limited partnership through which Druckenmiller manages his personal $11 billion fortune.

From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026

Among Warsh’s most significant assets are two positions in the Juggernaut Fund, each valued at more than $50 million.

From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026

Pittsburgh-based Foundation is backed by private-equity firms Kelso & Co. and Juggernaut Capital Partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

His music began with Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' and soon turned into a vastly different vibe - a rap song with the chorus "You don't want to war with big Juggernaut".

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2023

Electronic signals were sent back and forth between Crusher and the Juggernaut.

From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown

But several of the acts championing $20 tickets are juggernauts on the road.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

In a summer of Gen Z-driven blockbusters and ancient Greek juggernauts, the 38th entry in the Marvel universe can’t help smelling like your uncle’s sweaty Comic-Con ball cap.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Microsoft seemed like an obvious early winner in AI: The company became OpenAI’s first major corporate backer through a $1 billion investment in 2019, aligning itself early on with one of the industry’s juggernauts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

Like Sam’s AI use, the industry itself has gotten more sophisticated, and tech juggernauts and startups are locked in a race for supremacy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Nowadays we have far more knowledge of air-cooled engines and such crawling juggernauts as tanks, for it may well be argued that Scott's motor sledges were the forerunners of the tanks.

From South with Scott by Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, Baron Mountevans

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