as in dowager
a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority even though she was 87, the matriarch of the family knew everything that was going on

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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 matriarch His formidable wife, Claudine, a honeyed matriarch with a law degree, is tough enough to shape it to her own ends as needed. Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2025 In The White Lotus, the wildly popular upstairs-downstairs thriller, Posey plays Victoria Ratliff, a wealthy Southern matriarch, married to Jason Isaacs' Timothy Ratliff. Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025 These include Richard Lawson (Poltergeist, V, For Colored Girls), who plays Horace's brother Norman, and Debbi Morgan (Eve's Bayou, Power, All My Children) as Bellaire matriarch Olivia. Randall Colburn, EW.com, 11 Mar. 2025 For decades, Posey has influenced how New Yorkers dress, but thanks to her scene-stealing turn as a Lorazepam-sipping matriarch on The White Lotus, she’s found herself squarely in the fashion zeitgeist once again. Freya Drohan, Vogue, 21 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for matriarch

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“Matriarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/matriarch. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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