hold sway over

Idioms  

1. Dominate, have a controlling influence over, as in He held sway over the entire department. This idiom uses the noun sway in the sense of “power” or “dominion,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

Analysts say her departure as party leader could mark the end of the family's dominance in Thai politics, though some believe the Shinawatras still hold sway over Pheu Thai.

From Barron's • Oct. 22, 2025

Mexican authorities have repeatedly denied that cartels control the country, though security experts say that organized crime does hold sway over vast swaths of Mexican territory.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2025

These fearsome carnivores, known for their splotchy fur and cackling “laughter,” form complicated social networks in which high-ranking females hold sway over males and other, less dominant females.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 29, 2024

In recent years Kissinger has continued to hold sway over Washington’s power brokers as an elder statesman.

From Washington Times • May 27, 2023

So he now, as previously in the case of the pirates, was to hold sway over the entire world at that time under Roman power.

From Dio's Rome, Volume 2 An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus; and Now Presented in English Form. Second Volume Extant Books 36-44 (B.C. 69-44). by Foster, Herbert Baldwin

Related Words

• administer
• command
• conduct
• dominate
• govern
• handle
• lead
• manage
• manipulate
• oversee
• regulate
• rule
• run
• supervise