overlord

American  

[oh-ver-lawrd] / ˈoʊ vərˌlɔrd /

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.

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verb (used with object)

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

overlord British  

/ ˈəʊvəˌlɔːd /

noun

1. a supreme lord or master

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Other Word Forms

• overlordship noun

Etymology

Origin of overlord

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

Example Sentences

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Mexico’s European overlords used its silver and its agricultural wealth to nourish their global enterprises.

From The Wall Street Journal

Who wants dull stocks that merely make predictable profits and give them back to shareholders, when you could bet on the creation of our new robot overlords?

From The Wall Street Journal

And that their parents and others in their lives, documented or not, deserve dignity and compassion, no matter what the overlords do to deny them.

From Los Angeles Times

In that vein, maybe what today’s tech overlords are saying about AI to placate us will come true.

From Salon

And more than the horror or the humility, or the primal fear of servitude to robot overlords, they remind me of when I was young.

From Los Angeles Times