patriarchy

noun

pa·​tri·​ar·​chy ˈpā-trē-ˌär-kē 

plural patriarchies

1

: social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line

broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power

2

: a society or institution organized according to the principles or practices of patriarchy

For 20 years the country was ruled as a patriarchy.

Examples of patriarchy in a Sentence

For 20 years, the country was ruled as a patriarchy.

a region in which patriarchy is practiced

Recent Examples on the Web

Wouldn’t this all be better if women did not care so much about other aspects of their lives and just did their duty as defined by the patriarchy? —Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025

And a living representation of abuse and patriarchy in the form of a teenage bully who’s dating one of the characters’ older sister. —Diego Argüello, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2025

Buy Now The Best Celebrity Photo Books of 2024 05 of 10 'Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It' by Janina Ramirez The Middle Ages are often maligned as a dark time of oppression, ignorance and patriarchy, but recent scholarship shows this wasn’t the case. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 19 Apr. 2025

In those intimate gatherings, which were so key to the feminist movement, women shared stories about the struggle of living in a world so skewed towards the patriarchy. —Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for patriarchy

• hierarchy
• matriarchy
• oligarchy
• arche
• sparky
• autarky
• menarche

Kids Definition

patriarchy

noun

pa·​tri·​ar·​chy ˈpā-trē-ˌär-kē 

plural patriarchies

1

: social organization in which the father is head of the family and ancestry and inheritance are traced in the male line

2

: a society organized according to the principles of patriarchy