conquistador
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of conquistador
1540–50; < Spanish equivalent to conquist ( ar ) to conquer ( see conquest) + -ador -ator
Explanation
A conquistador is a person who is out to conquer new territory. A conquistador was the name given to the Fifteenth-to-Seventeenth century Spanish and Portugese soldiers who conquered much of the world, most famously the Central and Southern Americas. Not nice guys, but effective, and the term is still used today to describe certain people — ruthless business types, etc — who are brutally efficient at what they do. The most famous conquistador was the Spanish adventurer, Hernando Cortes, who subdued the mighty Aztec Empire of Mexico. The word comes, not surprisingly, from the Spanish verb conquistar, "to conquer."
Vocabulary lists containing conquistador
Cinco de Mayo: Words to Celebrate Mexico
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The Alchemist
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Bless Me, Ultima
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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.
A new take on the Dark Knight comic book hero that faces off against conquistador Hernán Cortés.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 22, 2025
Landing in Peru in 1531, during the Inca Civil War, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro found the Inca Road an ideal conduit for seizing the empire and draining it of its treasure.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
The FBI has returned a 500-year-old stolen document signed by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to Mexico.
From BBC • Aug. 14, 2025
Others credit Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who got a taste of chocolate after being served Xocolatl by Montezuma himself.
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2025
Las Casas, a conquistador who repented of his actions and became a priest, spent the second half of his long fife opposing European cruelty in the Americas.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
