materfamilias

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The film earned five Oscar nominations, including a best supporting actress nod for the veteran Billie Burke as the materfamilias of a wealthy but wacky family.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

The novel recounts the history and hardships of the Binewski clan, carnival folk whose pater- and materfamilias, Al and Crystal Lil, create their own freak show.

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2022

If all you need from the new “Roseanne” is Ms. Barr’s materfamilias sarcasm, the crack team of comedy actors surrounding her and an update of the show’s working-class gallows humor, it has you covered.

From New York Times • Mar. 26, 2018

That loyalty can also be, at times, very foolish, to the extent where even Goodfellas materfamilias Karen Hill would question such irrational devotion.

From The Guardian • Oct. 11, 2016

At by-ways where a tramp, a pedlar, or a pauper, did not reach, paterfamilias, or materfamilias, became "carver and gilder" to the household, and made their own matches.

From Fragments of Two Centuries Glimpses of Country Life when George III. was King by Kingston, Alfred