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Sovereign Power
Sovereign has everything to do with power. It often describes a person who has supreme power or authority, such as a king or queen. God is described as "sovereign" in a number of Bible translations. In addition to describing ones who have power, the word sovereign also often describes power: to have sovereign power is to have absolute power—that is, power that cannot be checked by anyone or anything. Nations and states are also sometimes described as "sovereign." This means that they have power over themselves; their government is under their own control, rather than under the control of an outside authority.
Sovereign can also be a synonym of supreme as in "of the most exalted kind." In that case, the power is figurative rather than literal.
Synonyms
Noun
Adjective
Examples of sovereign in a Sentence
Raquel Cepeda, Vibe, May 1999
During these two centuries the throne of Scotland was occupied by no more than seven sovereigns of only four different generations.
—G. W. S. Barrow, The Anglo-Norman Era In Scottish History, 1980
after the current sovereign dies, the monarchy may be abolished
Adjective
Local officials and a huge and enthusiastic crowd greeted Napoleon at the Portoferraio harbor. The Allies had granted him the title of Emperor of Elba, which was to be a sovereign state under his jurisdiction.
—David Pryce-Jones, National Review, 4 July 2005
If Cleopatra VII used her own personality more like Elizabeth I than Elizabeth II, she seems to have had the latter Elizabeth's sovereign sense of duty—as well as her fertility: With a dispatch usually associated with the gods, Cleopatra bore Caesar a son called Caesarion—"little Caesar"—in 47 B.C.E., the year after they met (she was twenty-one, he fifty-two).
—Ingrid D. Rowland, New Republic, 1 & 8 April 2002
the sovereign power of a king
The government's sovereign duty is to protect the rights of its citizens.
Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 9 Nov. 2024
Both estates were established hundreds of years ago to provide income for the sovereign and the heir to the throne, respectively.
—Janine Henni, People.com, 4 Nov. 2024
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Future drone swarms will dissolve and reconstitute themselves effortlessly in units of every size, much as elite special-operations forces are built from scalable detachments, each of which is capable of sovereign command.
—Henry A. Kissinger, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sovereign 
Dictionary Entries Near sovereign
Cite this Entry
“Sovereign.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sovereign. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sovereign
1 of 2 noun
sovereign
2 of 2 adjectiveMedical Definition
sovereign
adjective
Legal Definition
sovereign
1 of 2 nounAlden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999)sovereign
2 of 2 adjective
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