How to Use chieftain in a Sentence

chieftain

noun
  • Stay above the snake-line, or Viking chieftain Mike Pence may stop by with his mighty sword.
    Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 21 Apr. 2017
  • And the coffee chieftain is hard at work — the two men who were arrested have agreed to meet with him.
    Ellen McGirt, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2018
  • The founder of the city, a 16th-century chieftain named Kempe Gowda, dug the first of the city’s lakes, to trap and hold rainwater.
    Samanth Subramanian, WIRED, 2 May 2017
  • Karthi essayed the role of chieftain Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 Sep. 2023
  • More goodies for the top 0.1 percent — of which corporate chieftains are a big part — are on the way.
    Jon Talton, The Seattle Times, 15 July 2017
  • Fans will meet her as the daughter of the chieftain of the Raven Clan who's been trained since birth to become part of an elite guard that protects the monarchy.
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 Sep. 2022
  • Few oil chieftains at the time were moving in that direction.
    Bradley Olson, WSJ, 2 Apr. 2018
  • King Charles became chieftain of the games in 2002, following in the footsteps of his late mother.
    Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Based on the true story of Ka'iana, a war chieftain who travels to the outside world and learns more about the men invading his island home.
    Emily Burack, Town & Country, 12 Apr. 2022
  • But the comfort of sitting with longtime staffers may not be enough for the corporate chieftains.
    Brian Steinberg, Variety, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Tarfful, the Wookie chieftain, helped Yoda escape Kashyyyk when the clones turned on the Jedi.
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 21 Nov. 2019
  • The caliphate may have lost its caliph; this week brought a new flurry of speculation about the fate of the group’s chieftain, Abu Bakr Baghdadi.
    Nabih Bulos, latimes.com, 14 July 2017
  • And the coffee chieftain is already making things happen — the two men who were arrested have agreed to meet with him.
    Ellen McGirt, Fortune, 16 Apr. 2018
  • In the sixth century the chieftain attracted skilled artisans to the area, and later buried his large gold hoard.
    CNN, 13 Sep. 2021
  • The financiers and corporate chieftains gathered for Saudi Arabia’s ‘Davos in the Desert’ heard the same message again and again.
    Grant Smith, Houston Chronicle, 30 Oct. 2017
  • Julius’ wife was Julia Pacata, the daughter of a great French chieftain who aided the Romans in battle.
    Rachel Ashcroft, Longreads, 17 Sep. 2022
  • Prince Durin IV appears to figure as this series' dwarf chieftain.
    Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 22 July 2022
  • The restaurant’s 7-foot-tall doorman wore the robe of a Watusi chieftain, and became something of a local celebrity.
    Dallas News, 28 Feb. 2022
  • Inside the 292-foot longhouse, sealed with tar and lit by oil lamps, join a Viking chieftain and his lady for a traditional Viking meal.
    Smithsonian, 18 Sep. 2017
  • As a result, Sully steps down as war chieftain of the jungle tribe and flees with his family to seek refuge with an ocean clan, the Metkayina.
    Jeff Yang, CNN, 4 Jan. 2023
  • Replete with Russian spies and comically corrupt chieftains, and in the midst of a civil war, the NRA isn’t close to the main problem anymore.
    Cliff Schecter, The New Republic, 6 Aug. 2019
  • Moroccan resort is less than an hour’s drive south of Marrakesh, and was formerly a palace for a Berber chieftain.
    John Wogan, Travel + Leisure, 8 July 2020
  • One of the trees was planted by Muti’s grandfather, a Tembe chieftain and Tekohaw founder.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Oct. 2019
  • Others are obscure, such as tales of ancient Goth chieftains, quirky medieval craftsmen, and old stores.
    Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2022
  • Collins has emerged as a something like a de facto chieftain within the insurgent AMC investor group.
    Abram Brown, Forbes, 13 June 2021
  • The son of a wealthy chieftain in West Africa had just returned home from an apprenticeship when a raiding army attacked their village.
    Lindsey McGinnis, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Dec. 2020
  • For years after this location opened in 1964, chieftain Lew Wasserman held court at the same rear table, with the same waitress every day.
    Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 July 2017
  • That would explain the towering sculpture in the town square, made out of scrap metal, depicting a Muisca chieftain in mid-throw.
    John Otis, WSJ, 4 Dec. 2018
  • Many white genealogy buffs can trace their family trees all the way back to Huguenot rebels or Scottish chieftains.
    Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
  • The elite figure, identified as a chieftain, was buried with gold artifacts and 25 other people.
    Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chieftain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: