client state

American  

noun

1. a country that is dependent on a larger and more powerful country for its political, economic, or military welfare.

---

Etymology

Origin of client state

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Moscow claimed Iran as a strategic ally and Syria as a client state, which hosted Russia’s only naval base in the Mediterranean.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

The ancient city was the capital of an Arab client state of the Roman Empire that briefly rebelled and carved out its own kingdom in the third century, led by Queen Zenobia.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

Evidence suggests that at some point during the Augustan period, Kush was a client state of the Roman Empire.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Poland borders Ukraine and Russia’s client state Belarus in the east and the Russia territory of Kaliningrad in the north.

From New York Times • Mar. 16, 2023

As prime minister, Mr. Strougal was often the country’s public face in international affairs and made overtures for greater Cold War-era trade with the West even as Czechoslovakia’s regime remained a classic Soviet client state.

From Washington Post • Feb. 7, 2023