How to use patrician in a sentence
14 example sentences · noun, adjective
Patrician means a member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate. Example: “The emperor elevated several loyal families to the status of patricians.”
Examples of patrician by meaning
nounA person of high birth; a nobleman.
- The emperor elevated several loyal families to the status of patricians.
adjectiveOf or pertaining to the Roman patres (“fathers”) or senators, or patricians.
- The cognomen was first used in patrician families, who were distinguished from the plebeians by their three names.1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon...
adjectiveCharacteristic of or appropriate to a person of high birth; classy.
- Hanks' taste in projects and directors is undoubtedly patrician and with a few exceptions like 1993's Philadelphia, the first mainstream film about the Aids crisis, rarely provocative2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC
adjectivePolitically active to help people in lower classes, especially in a patronizing or condescending way.
- It will speed the shrivelling of the patrician “one nation” Tories, who tried to curb the extremes of Thatcherism and ended by providing its veils.1995, New Statesman Society
- Saint-Simon was certainly a radical, and hostile to inherited privilege, but his bourgeois 'socialism' was of a patrician kind.2013 July 18, Doctor Martin Parker, Valerie Fournier, Patrick Reedy, The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Organization, Zed Books...
More sentences with patrician
- Of the twenty patrician fetials, only four were customarily chosen to serve in an embassy.2005, Richard E. Mitchell, “The Definition of Patres and Plebs: An End to the Struggle of the Orders”, in Kurt A[rnold] Raaflaub, editor…. From the entry fetial
- At 6 feet 3 inches tall, he resembles the patrician Carlton Fisk more than the squatty Thurman Munson.2008 May 5, George Vecsey, “Have Health, Will Travel and Catch”, in New York Times. From the entry squatty
- We all had on tuxedos and the women were in their dresses and serious patrician shoes and splendid earwear.1989, Barry Hannah, Boomerang, page 148. From the entry earwear
- The residence of the British Council representative was in a quieter and perhaps more patrician part of Lija than my own.1980, Anthony Burgess, chapter 5, in Earthly Powers, London: Hutchinson. From the entry jacketed
- Alsop is a violent attitudinizer, and one of the attitudes he strikes is that of the patrician American, a vanishing breed.1976, Saul Bellow, To Jerusalem and Back, New York: Viking Press, page 112. From the entry attitudinizer
- Leading patrician and plebeian families came to be informally called nobiles (‘notables’), or collectively the nobilitas, their ancestry adorned by consuls, dictators and triumphators.2019, Dexter Hoyos, “Rome Before Empire: Hegemony Over Italy”, in Rome Victorious: The Irresistible Rise of the Roman Empire, London; New…. From the entry triumphator
- Yet surprisingly, given the varied activities of aulic doctors as propagandists, diplomats, and medical politicians, medicine within the patrician setting of the royal court has been largely neglected.2001, Elizabeth Lane Furdell, The Royal Doctors, 1485-1714: Medical Personnel at the Tudor and Stuart Courts, page 254. From the entry aulic
- The old patrician retreated noiselessly with a slow bow that was part of the ceremonious legacy left by a ci-devant aristocracy of the last century’s better days.1952, Isaac Asimov, Foundation and Empire (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part I: “The General”, chapter 1: ‘Search for Magicians’…. From the entry ci-devant
- Desert Wind, an Afghan with all the patrician haughtiness of his breed when sticking to business as a show dog and playful as a puppy afterward, became top dog tonight.1967 November 26, John Rendel, “Afghan Captures 32d Best in Show”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 Nov 2020. From the entry stick to business
Meaning of patrician
- noun A member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate.
- noun A person of high birth; a nobleman.
- noun One familiar with the works of the Christian Fathers; one versed in patristic lore or life.
Questions about patrician in a sentence
- How do you use patrician in a sentence?
- Patrician is used as a noun and adjective. For example: “The emperor elevated several loyal families to the status of patricians.”
- What is a short sentence with patrician?
- “The emperor elevated several loyal families to the status of patricians.”
- What does patrician mean?
- Patrician means a member of any of the families constituting the populus Romanus, or body of Roman citizens, before the development of the plebeian order; later, one who, by right of birth or by special privilege conferred, belonged to the senior class of Romans, who, with certain property, had by right a seat in the Roman Senate.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: patrician (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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