HOW TO PRONOUNCE
potentate
/ˈpoʊ.tən.teɪt/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:39
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What does potentate mean?
noun
- A powerful leader; a monarch; a ruler.
- A powerful polity or institution.
- (humorous) Someone acting in an important role.
More meanings (2)
noun
- (derogatory) A self-important person.
adjective
- (obsolete) Regnant, powerful, dominant.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈpoʊ.tən.teɪt/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
I know an old potentate who had rather have the gout in his stomach than in that little toe.
Success so complete as Mehemet Ali’s, if it had been attained by an ordinary Asiatic potentate, would have induced a notion of stability.
More book examples (3)
I return enclosed: if you write, thank Mr. Kingsley for thinking of letting me see the sound sense of an Eastern potentate.
Thus was the god-idea divorced from Nature, and a masculine principle, outside and independent of matter, set up as a personal potentate or ruler over the universe.
And, in truth, an excessive display of outward honor would seem to be the most uncertain attestation of the real affection of a people for any king or potentate.