ayatollah
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of ayatollah
1975–80; < Persian < Arabic āyat allāh sign of God; 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.
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
Let’s begin with the new ayatollah, who does appear to have quite a few similarities to the last ayatollah.
From Slate • Mar. 14, 2026
Ali Khamenei also was not an ayatollah, as the constitution requires, when chosen as supreme leader, though he later assumed the title.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
The second, most prominent, son of the late ayatollah is in his father's ultraconservative mould.
From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026
Within the Shiite clerical hierarchy, and like other Islamic scholars who studied under an ayatollah, he earned the title Hojjat al-Eslam, or “proof of Islam.”
From Salon • Mar. 6, 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.
