Word.ws English Dictionary

Darth Vader

UK/ˈdɑː(ɹ)θ ˈveɪ.də(ɹ)/

Darth Vader noun: a powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating and threatening.

darth vader: a powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating and...
Image: TalkTuahLunchly, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

Darth Vader (plural Darth Vaders)

  1. A powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating and threatening.
    • Irabu had hired Nomura, a man with whom he obviously had a great deal in common, and, who, as we have seen, was rapidly becoming the Darth Vader of Japanese baseball.2004, Robert Whiting, The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime, page 130
    • Bush's missile shield plan positions him as Darth Vader.2003, Marleen S. Barr, Envisioning the Future: Science Fiction and the Next Millennium, page xvii
  2. (UK, informal) A British Rail Class 460 train.
    • When the new GEX stock (Darth Vaders!!) are in service, and the inevitable happens and they break down, EWS will no doubt trundle along to rescue it1999 September 17, gl1, “Gatwick Express New Stock Nose Cones”, in uk.transport.london (Usenet)
    • What was modified so that 73s could haul (or push) and heat air-con stock on Gatwick Express (pre Darth Vader) - the locos or the coaches?2005 January 5, Peter Masson, “What future for the MK3's?”, in uk.railway (Usenet)

Proper noun

Darth Vader

  1. Darth Vader, a villain of the science-fantasy film series Star Wars.
    • What's all this? Looks like Darth Vader's bathroom.1982, “Knight of the Phoenix”, in Knight Rider, episode 1 (television production), spoken by Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff)

Darth Vader meaning in Hindi, Marathi and Arabic

Darth Vader in Hindi

Sith alter ego of Anakin Skywalker
डार्थ वेडर ḍārth veḍar

Darth Vader in Marathi

Sith alter ego of Anakin Skywalker
डार्थ व्हेडर ḍārtha vheḍar

Darth Vader in Arabic

Sith alter ego of Anakin Skywalker
دَارْث فِيدَر dārṯ fīdar

Examples of Darth Vader in a sentence

  • Commonly assumed to exert massive effects on the electorate, political spots (notably negative ones) have been teasingly called the Darth Vader of modern politics...2002, James Price Dillard, Michael Pfau, The Persuasion Handbook: the Persuasion Handbook (c): Developments in Theory and Practice, page...
  • In two different speeches the vice president called Malone, alternately “the Darth Vader of the cable industry,” and “[the man who runs] the cable Cosa Nostra.”1998, Jon Lewis, The New American Cinema, page 108:
  • Is there not also a degree of commonality with the Darth Vader units of Gatwick Express, which are likely to join the Southern fleet when (if) the GatEx franchise is terminated?2006 February 11, Tony Polson, “First Capital Connect want more 319s from Southern”, in uk.railway (Usenet):
  • With the streamlined cabs of the other reused driving cars being replaced with conventional cabs with gangway connections, the striking Darth Vaders will no longer be seen in service.2016 April 15, Hugh Llewelyn, EMUs A History, Amberley Publishing Limited, →ISBN:

Forms of Darth Vader

pluralDarth Vaders

Origin of Darth Vader

"Darth" is a blend of dark + death (the derivation from Dark Lord of the Sith is a later development). "Vader" is traditionally explained as being from Dutch vader (“father”). However, the idea of Vader's fatherhood was only developed for The Empire Strikes Back (after the character was introduced), making this improbable. It is more likely a shortening of invader or from the surname Vader.

Words formed from Darth Vader

Questions about Darth Vader

What does Darth Vader mean?
Darth Vader means a powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating and threatening.
What is Darth Vader in Hindi?
Darth Vader in Hindi is डार्थ वेडर (ḍārth veḍar). See Darth Vader meaning in Hindi.
How do you use Darth Vader in a sentence?
Commonly assumed to exert massive effects on the electorate, political spots (notably negative ones) have been teasingly called the Darth Vader of modern politics...
What part of speech is Darth Vader?
Darth Vader can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Darth Vader?
Darth Vader is pronounced /ˈdɑː(ɹ)θ ˈveɪ.də(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of Darth Vader?
The plural of Darth Vader is Darth Vaders.

Words near Darth Vader in the dictionary

  1. Dartford warblers
  2. Dartfordian
  3. Dartfordians
  4. Dartfords
  5. Darth
  6. Darth Vader
  7. Darth Vader-esque
  8. Darth Vaderesque
  9. Darth Vaderian
  10. Darth Vaderish
  11. Darth Vaders

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Darth Vader (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Darth Vader.wav.

Cite this entry: “Darth Vader.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/darth_vader. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.