juggernaut
noun
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The History of Juggernaut
In the early 14th century, Franciscan missionary Friar Odoric brought to Europe the story of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god Vishnu (whose title was Jagannāth, literally, "lord of the world") through the streets of India in religious processions. Odoric reported that some worshippers deliberately allowed themselves to be crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels as a sacrifice to Vishnu. That story was likely an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and they began using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) and to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."
Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence
Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 20 May 2026
Both of these tech juggernauts have spending a ton on capital expenditures to build AI infrastructure.
—Matthew J. Belvedere, CNBC, 20 May 2026
While the Middle East will remain an oil and gas juggernaut, the epicenter of the energy world may shift to the Americas, where oil and gas volumes and exports are increasing.
—Jordan Blum, Fortune, 19 May 2026
Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the juggernauts surrounding them aren’t going anywhere.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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