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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

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. )

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

Acme’s opening logos, WBD would be a subsidiary of the Acme juggernaut itself, now known as “Warner-Acme Group.”

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

AI juggernaut Nvidia on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue of $96.2 billion, more than double from a year earlier, as the world's most valuable company beat Wall Street expectations and forecast even stronger sales ahead.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

For the first time in a decade, the bald man on the touchline wasn’t Pep Guardiola, the Catalan tactician who had molded City into a juggernaut.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

As the cleanup has progressed, Lineage has been racking up thousands of dollars in fines from public health regulators — a drop in the bucket for the global cold storage juggernaut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

And because it grew and flourished it got the power that money brings, so that to attempt to withstand it was like trying to stop the onward rush of the great juggernaut.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

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

The "adrenaline-pumping night like no other" will see Louis "The Razor" Robinson go up against Dom "The Juggernaut" Sorby.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2024

And when that tower finally slipped below the surface, the Juggernaut was gone.

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

They returned to the summit again until visiting City on 26 April, with Pep Guardiola's juggernauts convincing 4-1 victors during a run of 14 wins from 15 games.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

During the bulk of his four decades in Durham, Krzyzewski maintained experienced rosters, building juggernauts schooled over years in the Duke way of doing things.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

In 2025, the best picture slate brought in about $1.7 billion globally, buoyed by box-office juggernauts “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

His flimsy automobile runs lightly past the juggernauts that crush down.

From The Invisible Censor by Francis Hackett

Related Words

• barrage
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