as in territory
a small country that is controlled and protected by a larger one
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Recent Examples of protectorate
France had claimed the island as a protectorate, in 1842; by the time Gauguin arrived, the bamboo buildings in the capital, Papeete, had been replaced by travesties of brick and iron.
—
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 11 July 2025
Determined to gain at least suzerainty over the island – which would have made Haiti a protectorate of France – Louis XVIII rebuked the two commissioners Boyer sent to Paris in 1824 to try to negotiate an indemnity in exchange for recognition.
—Marlene L. Daut, The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2025
Image Image Somaliland was a British protectorate until its independence on June 26, 1960.
—Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
Lions Club International has affiliates in well over 200 countries, territories and protectorates, and pursues charitable work in the areas of vision, youth, disaster relief and humanitarian efforts.
—Ramona Sentinel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for protectorate
Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 11 July 2025
Determined to gain at least suzerainty over the island – which would have made Haiti a protectorate of France – Louis XVIII rebuked the two commissioners Boyer sent to Paris in 1824 to try to negotiate an indemnity in exchange for recognition.
—Marlene L. Daut, The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2025
Image Image Somaliland was a British protectorate until its independence on June 26, 1960.
—Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025
Lions Club International has affiliates in well over 200 countries, territories and protectorates, and pursues charitable work in the areas of vision, youth, disaster relief and humanitarian efforts.
—Ramona Sentinel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for protectorate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for protectorate
Noun
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Even better, seven metro areas were firmly in buyers’ market territory, meaning there were at least six months of supply available for purchase.—
Andrea Riquier,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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The British had seized the territory from the Ottoman Empire during World War I.—
Sean Durns,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Logging later resumed under an archaic mandate and approval processes that a past Cal Fire director and others say still violates key laws such as CEQA and works at cross purposes to the missions of other agencies.—
John P. O’Brien,
Mercury News,
13 Sep. 2025
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Last month, the UK government dropped its mandate requiring Apple to provide backdoor access to Americans' iCloud data.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Rather than going all-in on AI literacy, the question is to calibrate deliberate exposure to mental challenges that build resistance to intellectual dependency.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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Dating dinosaur eggs has typically been a challenge due to dependency on indirect methods, such as dating surrounding volcanic rocks.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Protectorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/protectorate. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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