Napoleon Bonaparte

1. A French general, political leader, and emperor of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Bonaparte rose swiftly through the ranks of army and government during and after the French Revolution and crowned himself emperor in 1804. He conquered much of Europe but lost two-thirds of his army in a disastrous invasion of Russia. After his final loss to Britain and Prussia at the Battle of Waterloo, he was exiled to the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean.

Because Napoleon was short, overly aggressive men of short stature are sometimes said to have a “Napoleon complex.”

Napoleon's name is often connected with overreaching military ambition and delusions of grandeur.

Example Sentences

He offers other comparisons: Franco, he says, was “the most dominant figure in Spain since the time of Philip II”—king from 1556 to 1598—and regards Napoleon Bonaparte as his “earliest modern prototype.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

If the conflicts ended with Robespierre’s death and the ensuing Thermidorian Reaction, characterized by a retreat from violent purges in 1794-95, fundamental instability persisted until Napoleon Bonaparte imposed order.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Later, the Duke of Wellington would cite Verres’ campaign of excess as he returned Italian antiquities that had been stolen by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That’s probably how Napoleon Bonaparte felt, three-quarters of the way through the battle of Waterloo.

Read more on Salon

Trump says he has not ruled out seeking a prohibited third term and posted a quote online attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times