Napoleon Bonaparte

Cultural  

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.

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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

Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov in 2023 ordered a 43-metre-tall golden statue of himself straddling an Akhal-Teke in a pose reminiscent of Napoleon Bonaparte.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

This historic fortress is where Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in 1799.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025

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.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

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

From Salon • Sep. 14, 2025

In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, the best general in France, put an end to the revolutionary bloodbath.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson