as in dictator
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
like some pharaoh of a third-world country, more interested in building monuments to himself than in creating a future for his people
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Recent Examples of pharaoh
The red home shirt featured a pharaoh as its primary background design, so what does the away shirt have?
—
Nick Miller, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
Two other small statues on the pharaoh's feet depict his wife, Tiye.
—CBS News, 15 Dec. 2025
The pharaoh ruled for only a decade, until his own death at 19.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
For the first time since King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922, all of the pharaoh’s treasures will be stored in one place.
—Christian Orozco, NBC news, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pharaoh
Nick Miller, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2026
Two other small statues on the pharaoh's feet depict his wife, Tiye.
—CBS News, 15 Dec. 2025
The pharaoh ruled for only a decade, until his own death at 19.
—Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
For the first time since King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922, all of the pharaoh’s treasures will be stored in one place.
—Christian Orozco, NBC news, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pharaoh
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pharaoh
Noun
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The delegation — the first since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in March 2014 — was headed, symbolically, by Vyacheslav Nikonov, a lawmaker from Putin’s United Russia party and the grandson of Joseph Stalin’s Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.—
Vladimir Kara-Murza,
Washington Post,
3 Apr. 2026
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More like a memo from the dictator, telling gullible loyalists what to think.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant.—
Killian Baarlaer,
Louisville Courier Journal,
28 Mar. 2026
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Colletti joins One Piece as Wapol, a tyrant and adversary to the Straw Hats.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pharaoh.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pharaoh. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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