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
Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 17 Sep. 2025
Could these two juggernauts clash in a state final for a fifth straight year?
—Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 16 Sep. 2025
Once the launchpad for Oscar juggernauts from Slumdog Millionaire to La La Land, TIFF has in recent years watched rivals Venice and Telluride siphon away its prestige premieres, while buyers grumbled about thinner slates and softer deal flow.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025
This shame campaign, of course, is unlikely to put a dent in the NFL’s bottom line, just as previous outrages have failed to rattle this juggernaut, still the largest professional athletic league in the world by revenue.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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