noun
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Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of overlord
Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; see origin at over-, lord
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.
See Examples For:
Mr. Washington, star of Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” has one of the richer roles, as the tech overlord who with supple suavity plays upon his friends’ weaknesses and sensitivities to achieve his ends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
In comparing those statistics with those of its former colonial overlord, Hartnett, Bank of America’s chief equity strategist, found an emphatic stateside outperformance on almost all fronts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026
"I think Your Idol is such a banger," says Kang about song the Saja Boys sing while feeding the souls of their audience to the evil overlord Gwi-Ma.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
First Paul falls in love with Chani, a Fremen warrior who sees the messiah prophecy as overlord propaganda, which naturally threatens to back-burner his mom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
Once again the newly self-titled overlord of crime had outsmarted a couple of mere animals.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The S&P’s overlords cannot guarantee that this will continue, but they can treat as sacred the rules that give the index credibility.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Our tech overlords are planning for conscious AI to conquer the cosmos.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
The House wasn’t in session, which is often the best time to check in on staff who don’t have their overlords hanging around.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
In short, Wall Street welcomes our robot overlords.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Only in 1428 did Itzacoatl, a newly selected tlatoani, ally with two other small vassal states to overthrow their mutual overlords.
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.
