fiefdom
Americannoun
-
the estate or domain of a feudal lord.
-
Informal. anything, as an organization or real estate, owned or controlled by one dominant person or group.
noun
-
(in feudal Europe) the property owned by a lord
-
an area over which a person or organization exerts authority or influence
Etymology
Origin of fiefdom
Vocabulary lists containing fiefdom
Medieval Europe - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Medieval Europe - High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
With LeBron we had a king shaping his fiefdom to first and foremost best serve him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
People are furious at the referee, the clumsy VAR process, and, of course, at FIFA, soccer’s governing fiefdom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Morales has been hiding out from police in his central coca-growing fiefdom of Chapare since late 2024.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
J. Edgar Hoover, who led the FBI for 48 years, had established a personal fiefdom devoted to consolidating power and pursuing his own personal obsessions, sometimes with blackmail and coercion.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026
Each a tottering fiefdom with an epic of its own.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
