juggernaut
noun
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The History of Juggernaut
In the early 14th century, Franciscan missionary Friar Odoric brought to Europe the story of an enormous carriage that carried an image of the Hindu god Vishnu (whose title was Jagannāth, literally, "lord of the world") through the streets of India in religious processions. Odoric reported that some worshippers deliberately allowed themselves to be crushed beneath the vehicle's wheels as a sacrifice to Vishnu. That story was likely an exaggeration or misinterpretation of actual events, but it spread throughout Europe. The tale caught the imagination of English listeners, and they began using juggernaut to refer to any massive vehicle (such as a steam locomotive) and to any other enormous entity with powerful crushing capabilities. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."
Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence
Sughnen Yongo, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
The Canadian metal juggernauts will be joined by progressive metal stalwarts Periphery and rising alt-pop act Honey Revenge for the 19-date run, which kicks off Nov. 12 in Ontario, California, and wraps up Dec. 7 in Wallingford, Connecticut.
—Jessica Lynch, Billboard, 9 July 2025
Meanwhile, several Cubs hitters have outperformed expectations — notably Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki and Michael Busch — to make the offense a first-half juggernaut.
—Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
Inspired by Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing, already a juggernaut in the U.K., Dancing With the Stars was unlike anything that had ever been on TV before in America — a reality show with celebrities competing alongside professional ballroom dancers (not exactly America’s national pastime).
—EW.com, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
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