as in authoritarian
fond of ordering people around
the younger children in the family were controlled by a domineering older sister
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Recent Examples of domineering
Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026
Set in medieval England, Anne and her domineering mother-in-law Morwen struggle to survive on the outskirts of society.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 15 Jan. 2026
That premonition rings true when his parents (Tara Buckman, Geoff Hansen) are slaughtered by a carjacker dressed as Old Saint Nick himself (Charles Dierkop) just hours later, condemning the toddler into further moral compass trauma at an orphanage run by a domineering Mother Superior nun from Hell.
—Huntley Woods, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Dec. 2025
Orgon’s only ally is his domineering parade float of a mother, Madame Pernelle (the Bianca del Rio), who sails onto the stage in high dudgeon at the top of the play.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for domineering
Adjective
Set in medieval England, Anne (Turner) is torn between her domineering live-in mother-in-law Morwen (Marcia Gay Harden) and a new love interest, Jago (Harington).
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 15 Jan. 2026
Set in medieval England, Anne and her domineering mother-in-law Morwen struggle to survive on the outskirts of society.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 15 Jan. 2026
That premonition rings true when his parents (Tara Buckman, Geoff Hansen) are slaughtered by a carjacker dressed as Old Saint Nick himself (Charles Dierkop) just hours later, condemning the toddler into further moral compass trauma at an orphanage run by a domineering Mother Superior nun from Hell.
—Huntley Woods, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Dec. 2025
Orgon’s only ally is his domineering parade float of a mother, Madame Pernelle (the Bianca del Rio), who sails onto the stage in high dudgeon at the top of the play.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for domineering
Recent Examples of Synonyms for domineering
Adjective
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Rezwan Shahriar Sumit’s Master, tracing the rise of a teacher drawn into local politics in Bangladesh and moving from idealism to authoritarian impulses, won the Big Screen Competition.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Feb. 2026
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What is unique in this moment is how aggressively one political party is leveraging this and the ends to which it is being used, which is to overthrow democracy and to install an authoritarian regime.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But in recent years, horse training has been reframed around horse psychology, with emphasis on observing and guiding the horse, as opposed to dominating it.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
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This medical shift has forced food manufacturers to scramble, with protein claims now dominating labels from dairy aisles to coffee shops.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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He is paired with an arrogant young partner (Lou), a second-generation political scion whose personality clashes sharply with his own.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
29 Jan. 2026
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In the early years of his fame as a writer, Rushdie had something of a reputation for being prickly and arrogant, but Gibney’s portrait reveals a man mellowed by time and experience.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Those of us who would love to have agents and publishing houses dictating our next books feigned sympathy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
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Fland also added 15 points and eight assists, playing a terrific floor game and dictating the action from the opening tip.—
Jim Root,
New York Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The history of civic engagement in the Twin Cities and today’s resistance to the overbearing behavior of federal agents’ in the Twin Cities hold lessons.—
Harry Boyte,
Twin Cities,
8 Feb. 2026
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In Send Help, Linda (McAdams) and her overbearing boss Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) survive a plane crash and become stranded on a deserted island, where their past office grievances become a violent fight for survival.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In Russia, Cuba, Iran, Belarus, and Uganda, dictatorships have carried on for decades—oppressing and killing their people, attacking their neighbors, and destabilizing their regions.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2026
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Now, the Franciscan missionaries oppressing the Native Americans in the painting had arrows piercing their heads and bodies.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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With the sun, Venus and Mercury moving through your bossy 10th house of career and authority this season, your work life becomes more visible and demanding.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
21 Dec. 2025
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Imagine the bossy, vegetal crunch of a nearly raw bell pepper.—
Adam Erace,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
11 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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In the meantime, an unstable government could become more rather than less aggressive, not least to keep younger hard-liners from rebelling.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Feb. 2026
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Wiener helped push two new California laws last year — the No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act — in the wake of intense and aggressive immigration enforcement by masked ICE and other federal agents in California and around the country.—
Kevin Rector,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Domineering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/domineering. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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