overlord

[ oh-ver-lawrd ]

noun

1. a person who is lord over another or over other lords:

   to obey the will of one's sovereign and overlord.

2. a person of great influence, authority, power, or the like:

   the overlords of industry.

verb (used with object)

1. to rule or govern arbitrarily or tyrannically; domineer.

overlord

/ ˈəʊvəˌlɔːd /

noun

1. a supreme lord or master

Derived Forms

• ˈoverˌlordship, noun

Other Words From

• over·lordship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of overlord¹

Middle English word dating back to 1150–1200; over-, lord

Example Sentences

We also consulted with a few long-time office workers who have tried every K cup their corporate overlords agreed to order them.

From Popular-Science

The program the ship is part of is known as Ghost Fleet Overlord.

From Popular-Science

To Evans, who helped lead the charge, it was just the latest iteration of exploitation from more powerful overlords.

From Time

So it gave this close relationship with creators because it felt like no corporate overlords were looking down on them.

From Digiday

For that to happen, the new trustbusters will have to make the case that even if we like what our digital overlords are doing with our data, it’s still wrong for a small number of companies to control so much of it.

From MIT Technology Review

The second school, mostly American, claims equally unequivocally that no such strategy was written into the Overlord plans.

From The Daily Beast

This school states unequivocally that this strategy was included in the final Overlord plans.

From The Daily Beast

To “link up the beachheads and peg out claims well inland” was necessarily the first aim of Overlord.

From The Daily Beast

This tension between outcast and overlord is at the heart of our sweeping change into a tech-driven, spiritually infused economy.

From The Daily Beast

China in Tibet has always been, like Britain in India and Spain in the Americas, an alien overlord.

From The Daily Beast

A strapping fellow like myself, not so bad-looking, oft hath his uses not indented in the bond to his overlord.

From Project Gutenberg

Edward on being called in to award the crown required all concerned to acknowledge him as feudal overlord.

From Project Gutenberg

But what happens when some really bright overlord decides to by-pass his local enemies?

From Project Gutenberg

As ruler of the nation the high priest paid its tribute to Egypt, its overlord.

From Project Gutenberg

He laid claim to being the king of kings, the overlord of the world, the ruler of the 'four quarters of the earth.'

From Project Gutenberg