juggernaut
noun
Did you know?
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 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.
Synonyms
Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence
Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 20 Dec. 2024
That’s OpenAI’s response to Elon Musk, who has filed a lawsuit against the AI juggernaut over its plan to restructure itself to become a for-profit public benefit corporation.
—Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
The Lions have become the most comprehensively sound lineup in football as head coach Dan Campbell has built his team into a 12-1 juggernaut that is the current favorite to win Super Bowl LIX.
—Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 15 Dec. 2024
Russia is no juggernaut, as its quagmire in Ukraine proves.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 12 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for juggernaut 
Dictionary Entries Near juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share