sovereign
Americannoun
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a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
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a person who has supreme power or authority.
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a group or body of persons or a state having sovereign authority.
- Synonyms:
- government
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a gold coin of the United Kingdom, equal to one pound sterling: went out of circulation after 1914.
adjective
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belonging to or characteristic of a sovereign or sovereign authority; royal.
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having supreme rank, power, or authority.
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supreme; preeminent; indisputable.
a sovereign right.
- Synonyms:
- predominant, principal, paramount, chief
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greatest in degree; utmost or extreme.
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being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc.
-
efficacious; potent.
a sovereign remedy.
noun
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a person exercising supreme authority, esp a monarch
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a former British gold coin worth one pound sterling
adjective
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supreme in rank or authority
a sovereign lord
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excellent or outstanding
a sovereign remedy
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a sovereign
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independent of outside authority
a sovereign state
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsovereignnoun
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subsovereignnoun
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undersovereignnoun
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quasi-sovereignadjective
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supersovereignadjective
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unsovereignadjective
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nonsovereignlyadverb
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sovereignlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sovereign
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English soverain, altered by influence of reign, from Old French soverain, from Vulgar Latin superānus (unrecorded), equivalent to Latin super- super- + -ānus -an
Explanation
Put simply, your sovereign is your king or queen. George III was the sovereign of Great Britain and her colonies — including the American ones. At least he was until a little thing called the Revolutionary War upset everything. Sovereign as an adjective can be used to indicate the ultimate power of a state, whether a monarchy or not, as in "Peru exercised its sovereign rights to all minerals within its borders." A sovereign is also a British gold coin with a face value of one pound sterling (with the monarch's face on it). But don't sell it for a pound, because it's worth its weight in gold — quite literally — which is a lot more than a pound is worth.
Vocabulary lists containing sovereign
"On Women's Right to Vote" by Susan B. Anthony
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American Born Chinese
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Chains
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
BAE Systems unveiled Britain's first sovereign CCA at Farnborough, though London has yet to commit to a procurement decision, leaving the field open to competitors.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
It could also make large areas of sovereign territory across the Pacific uninhabitable and force hundreds of millions of people worldwide to leave their homes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
Maduro's attorney Barry Pollack signalled that he will argue at trial that his client was protected by sovereign immunity, a legal principle shielding heads of state from prosecution.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
S&P affirms Indonesia’s BBB long-term sovereign credit rating, and expects the government to keep its fiscal deficit below the legal ceiling of 3% of GDP.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
If an enemy sovereign was slain, as apparently happened in Mutal, the conquerors often didn’t emplace a new one; kings were divine, and thus by definition irreplaceable.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
These developments don’t threaten dollar dominance today or tomorrow, but they reflect a genuine, if gradual, de-risking impulse among sovereigns who have concluded that some diversification away from dollar concentration is prudent.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
Tim Ash, senior strategist at RBC Bluebay Asset Management, pointed out in a posting on X, that sovereigns do not request swap lines lightly.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026
Supply also slowed after massive issuance by numerous sovereigns this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
“Therefore, the read across is great for the sector since it points to very strong spending from hyperscalers and sovereigns outside of China through 2026.”
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
There is a reward of one thousand sovereigns for giving her up to them.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
