overlord

American  

[oh-ver-lawrd] / ˈoʊ vərˌlɔrd /

noun

• overlords
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• overlordship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• overlords
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of overlord

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overlord overlords

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

And now AI is the overlord of all that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 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

If not wanting my robot assistant/future overlord to have an image tool makes me an A.I. elitist, as Altman implies, then I will proudly fit myself for a monocle.

From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2026

Immortal, too, their cowherds are—their shepherds— Phaethousa and Lampeti'a, sweetly braided nymphs that divine Neaira bore to the overlord of high noon, Helios.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

For thousands of years, Mr. Bond observes, thinkers have policed the animal-human boundary, seeking to keep both sides separate and establish humans as overlords of the natural world.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

But there are technical challenges: AI agents make lots of decisions very fast, and so it's hard for their human overlords to monitor exactly which values are being followed and which aren't.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 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

If anything, the Czechs hated their Nazi overlords.

From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz

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