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

"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

It’s fairly obvious who Hawley channeled to create Prodigy’s overlord, whereas Sandra Yi Sencindiver’s Yutani fits a concept; she’s all silk tailoring and iron will.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 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

In our view, the best chance for the Bay Area schools to generate serious interest from Fox is to secure invitations from the ACC and its media overlord, ESPN.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 16, 2023

The Valkyries, with their leader Brunnhilde, are the warrior daughters of Wotan, a Zeus-like overlord, and have the second opera of the sequence named after them.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall