warlord
Americannoun
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a military leader, especially of a warlike nation.
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a military commander who has seized power, especially in one section of a country.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of warlord
Explanation
An aggressive military commander with extremely loyal forces is sometimes called a warlord. Warlords usually control a small territory within a country. According to political scientists, warlords tend to gain power following the fall of a large empire and the rise of small, weak states in its place. The main thing distinguishing warlords from other types of rulers is that they have loyal followers who are well armed and obedient to the individual warlord rather than the actual government. The term warlord dates from the 1850s, but it wasn't common until the 1920s.
Vocabulary lists containing warlord
Africa - Middle School
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Africa - High School
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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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.
The actor also played the doomed warlord who divides his kingdom between his sons in "Ran", Kurosawa's 1985 film based on the Shakespeare play "King Lear".
From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025
The godfathers of Laukkaing rose to power after Min Aung Hlaing, who now heads Myanmar's military government, led an operation to oust the town's then-dominant warlord.
From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025
When he is introduced in “The Force Awakens,” Kylo Ren is a First Order warlord following in Darth Vader’s footsteps, but he eventually finds redemption after sacrificing himself in “The Rise of Skywalker.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025
Mr. Prigozhin, a caterer turned warlord who grew rich on state contracts, was an unlikely messenger.
From New York Times • May 26, 2024
“The man you know as Serakeen—the bloodthirsty warlord, the Scourge of the East—is a fabrication, a useful myth we’ve concocted. But I’m afraid he doesn’t exist.”
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
