Word of the Day

: January 23, 2022

juggernaut

noun JUG-er-nawt

What It Means

A juggernaut is a massive force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path.

// With the signing of a player who is possibly the best receiver in the league, the team will be an offensive juggernaut.

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juggernaut in Context

"The original Ghostbusters was such a pop-culture juggernaut that even Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song became a Number One hit, knocking Prince's 'When Doves Cry' out of the top spot." — Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?

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 Jagannath, 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.