fiefdom
Americannoun
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the estate or domain of a feudal lord.
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Informal. anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group.
noun
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(in feudal Europe) the property owned by a lord
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an area over which a person or organization exerts authority or influence
Etymology
Origin of fiefdom
Vocabulary lists containing fiefdom
Medieval Europe - Middle School
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Medieval Europe - 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.
Many accounts of the Murdaugh family’s sordid history mention that the five-county South Carolina district doubling as their fiefdom was nicknamed Murdaugh Country.
From Salon • Oct. 16, 2025
“There is a group of people who run Hillcrest as their personal fiefdom, violating the basic principles of fairness and equity,” Alex Winnick said in a statement to The Times about the lawsuit.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024
Le Pen retreated to a party fiefdom in southern France, Beaucaire, and held a small march there.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 9, 2023
None of this would’ve been possible without Twitter’s open terrain, but in a more cloistered, more decentralized social media environment, she does worry her particular media fiefdom could face foreclosure.
From Slate • Jul. 27, 2023
He became a kind of prosecutor and bill collector for the Dutch West India Company, which owned and operated the colony as a private fiefdom.
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.
