patriarchs

noun

plural of patriarch
as in fathers
a man who is the head of a family Investors worried that the aging patriarch was soon to be replaced atop the family business by his less reliable oldest son.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of patriarchs After that session, the three patriarchs began reaching out to other heavyweight clans. — Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 27 Dec. 2025 Rebekah, in the Hebrew Bible, matriarch who is the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob, both key patriarchs. — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Mar. 2026 Sometimes finding the right trees can be an adventure, hiking into forests and mountains to find the oldest trees, patriarchs that hold centuries of information. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 28 June 2026 Instead, Reynolds observes that these sober men bore little resemblance to the roistering patriarchs of the remote plantations. — James Traub, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 Forty years after opening, Union Square Cafe is one of the prosperous patriarchs of the New York restaurant world. — Christine Muhlke, Air Mail, 20 Sep. 2025 What father would ever allow such devastation, assuring fellow patriarchs that their lives without sons would be ruined forever? — David John Chávez, Mercury News, 3 Mar. 2026 The road continues from Beersheba to Hebron, home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, purchased by Abraham some 3,800 years ago and traditionally regarded as the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs. — Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026 In addition to Leo and Bartholomew, the participants of the commemorative service included priests, patriarchs and bishops from Orthodox Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Malankarese, Armenian, Protestant and Anglican churches. — Arkansas Online, 29 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patriarchs
  1. fathers
  2. grandfathers
  3. dads
Noun
  • Russert and Sanders Townsend have bonded over losing their fathers.
    — Jay Stahl, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • That would have been unlikely just a few years ago — when laws in this Muslim-majority nation forbade women freedom of travel without permission from husbands or fathers.
    — Charles Maynes, NPR, 27 June 2026
Definition of fathers
Noun
  • College football is nothing without traditions (see above), and ripping Notre Dame-USC from the calendar robs the next generation of fans of both schools from enjoying the game their fathers and grandfathers remember.
    — Pete Sampson, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • One of his great-great-grandfathers, Ned, was enslaved in Texas before being freed on Juneteenth.
    — Calista Oetama, Hartford Courant, 22 June 2026
Definition of grandfathers
Noun
  • This includes more than 200 moms, dads, Democrats and Republicans.
    — Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Depressed dads are more prone to expressing aggravation, annoyance or even rage, Daniel Singley, a psychologist who founded a therapy center for men, said to the Times.
    — Theara Coleman, TheWeek, 27 June 2026
Definition of dads

Browse Nearby Words

patriarchal
patriarchs
patrician
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Cite this Entry

“Patriarchs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patriarchs. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on patriarchs

Nglish: Translation of patriarchs for Spanish Speakers

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