potentate

American  

[poht-n-teyt] / ˈpoʊt nˌteɪt /

noun

1. a person who possesses great power, as a sovereign, monarch, or ruler.

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potentate British  

/ ˈpəʊtənˌteɪt /

noun

1. a person who possesses great power or authority, esp a ruler or monarch

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Etymology

Origin of potentate

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin potentātus potentate, Latin: power, dominion. See potent ¹, -ate ³

Example Sentences

With his bald pate, dark-framed glasses and knowing demeanor, he has become one of the foremost chroniclers of the world’s media barons and Manhattan potentates.

From The Wall Street Journal

George, now firmly established himself as one of New York’s premier financial potentates, turns his gaze in the direction of the setting sun, aiming to cut a swath of influence to the other coast.

From Salon

With the cabinet not having met since 2018, all power flows through him, and like a potentate he receives a string of local officials and foreign dignitaries at his retreat.

From BBC

Feinstein ruled over San Francisco like a potentate, hands on and fingernails dug in.

From Los Angeles Times

At Yale and Harvard, he encountered professors who “reigned as potentates, sure in the smugness of their positions, but utterly unaware of the lives of most Americans, including those that they professed to care about.”

From Washington Post

Related Words

• despot