Khamenei

American

[khah-muh-ney, kah‑, khah-me-ney] / ˌxɑ məˈneɪ, ˌkɑ‑, ˌxɑ mɛˈneɪ /

noun

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini, born 1939, chief Islamic leader of Iran since 1989.

Khamenei British

/ ˌxɑməˈnɪ /

noun

Ayatollah Seyed Ali (ˈseɪjət). born 1940, Iranian political and religious leader: president (1981–89); supreme leader from 1989

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Khamenei

His father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening shots of the war, saw himself as an arbiter between factions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the slain supreme leader, who took over the role after his father was killed but wasn’t at his funeral, has joined the calls for retribution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since the conflict started in February.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Iranians were preparing on Thursday to bury their slain leader Ali Khamenei in his hometown of Mashhad in northeast Iran, as new US strikes threatened to trigger a fresh escalation in the Middle East war.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

Ayatollah Khamenei was Iran’s Supreme Cleric: the absolute religious and governmental authority.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023