From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmatriarchalma‧tri‧ar‧chal /ˌmeɪtriˈɑːkl◂ $ -ˈɑːr-/ adjective 1 SSWWOMANruled or controlled by women a matriarchal society2 SSWWOMANrelating to or typical of a matriarch → patriarchal
Examples from the Corpus
matriarchal• A photograph taken in 1908 shows Belle, strongly matriarchal among her children.• Whether or not she was cooking, she regularly donned an apron as a symbolically matriarchal gesture that she was in charge of domestic arrangements.• Clearly, then, Laura Holmes's family is tribal, matriarchal, insular. 