juggernaut
noun
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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 Jagannāth, 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. While the word is still used sometimes in British English to refer to a very large, heavy truck (also called a "juggernaut lorry"), juggernaut is more commonly used figuratively for a relentless force, entity, campaign, or movement, as in "a political/economic/cultural juggernaut."
Examples of juggernaut in a Sentence
Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 28 Apr. 2026
Musk alleges he was duped when Altman transformed OpenAI from a nonprofit entity into a for-profit juggernaut.
—John Ruwitch, NPR, 27 Apr. 2026
Even with the weekend’s crowded field — including the box-office juggernaut Michael — YoungBoy’s film landed at Number 10 on the domestic weekend chart, while only playing in 583 theaters.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 27 Apr. 2026
But juggernauts, these Mets are not.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for juggernaut
Cite this Entry
“Juggernaut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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