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

Either way, to read that final sentence is to detect a sulphurous whiff of Kardashian materfamilias Kris, who will have regarded the furore engulfing her daughter as a major injustice.

From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2017

In Mr. Konchalovsky’s film Jill Clayburgh plays a Manhattan journalist who treks into the deep Louisiana bayou to interview relatives, among them a flinty materfamilias played by Barbara Hershey.

From New York Times • Jun. 2, 2012

Paterfamilias was the head and lord of the house, while materfamilias held in practice much the same position as she did in Anglo-Saxon households of two or three generations ago.

From Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul by Tucker, T. G. (Thomas George)