ayatollah
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ayatollah
1975–80; < Persian < Arabic āyat allāh sign of God; cf. Allah
Vocabulary lists containing ayatollah
The Middle East and Central Asia - Middle School
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The Middle East and Central Asia - High School
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Muslim Empires and the Middle East - High School
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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.
Azar Nafisi, an English literature professor who got her doctorate at the University of Oklahoma, returned to her native Tehran just after the tides of history swept away the shah and swept in the ayatollah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was conspicuously absent from his father's funeral, as senior regime figures joined thousands paying their respects to the late ayatollah on Sunday.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
But he also balanced out his tone by saying he would like to meet the new ayatollah of Iran, and “probably will” at some point.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
The new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since the start of the war, reportedly injured in the strike that killed his father.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Iran’s government is an explicit theocracy with the ayatollah, the supreme leader, maintaining both a religious and political role.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
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.
