sceptre
Americannoun
noun
-
a ceremonial staff held by a monarch as the symbol of authority
-
imperial authority; sovereignty
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sceptre
C13: from Old French sceptre, from Latin scēptrum, from Greek skeptron staff
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:
The drag star described the show as the "most amazing experience" after collecting the sceptre from series six winner Kyran Thrax.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
Flowers spelling "Vivienne", "James" and "Son" were in the hearse, and the crown and sceptre awarded to Drag Race winners were carried ahead of the coffin.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2025
The result: An imposing figure of a seated emperor, draped in a gilded tunic and holding a sceptre and orb, gazing out over his Rome from a side garden of the Capitoline Museums.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
May wisdom be your crown, compassion your sceptre and loving kindness your orb, adorned with the jewels of impartiality, humility and service, for the benefit of beings in this realm and beyond.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2023
From his belt, Nico pulled the sceptre of Diocletian.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Even without Lithgow’s Churchill, The Crown looks set to ruffle feathers across this sceptred isle.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 2, 2016
They like it that way on the sceptred isle, defined by rising chalky cliffs, so green and apart.
From US News ● Jun. 27, 2016
On the Bard's 450th birthday, take a tour of the "sceptred isle" that inspired his works - and look at how the locations have changed.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2014
And in Richard II, Shakespeare uses the area as the place where John of Gaunt makes his famous "sceptred isle" speech.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2014
But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
