From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpotentatepo‧ten‧tate /ˈpəʊtənteɪt $ ˈpoʊ-/ noun [countable] literaryPGO a ruler in the past, who had great power over his people
Examples from the Corpus
potentate• Like any Eastern potentate he was celebrated for his wives.• Eastern potentates• Rather than defending society, the young men attack it and exalt macho foreign potentates and desperadoes.• Or even some other foreign potentate ...?• About the only way to be a harem-guarding potentate nowadays is to start a cult and brainwash potential concubines about your holiness.• Bishoprics were most commonly the reward for service to one or other important secular potentate.• Obviously we would have to be prepared to see the potentates who control the club to obtain permission to work in it.• Sources say Gumbel was summoned there by none other than the potentate of Microsoft himself, Bill Gates.• Various potentates from neighboring islands claimed the prize. 