kingmaker
/ˈkɪŋˌmeɪkɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.31 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Alain, who is proud of choosing the extreme right but still didn't want his real name printed, is one of the 6.4 million [Marine] Le Pen voters who are now the kingmakers in deciding who becomes the next president of France. If the Socialist François Hollande topped the poll, beating the rightwing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and gaining momentum for returning the left to the presidency for the first time in a generation, it is Le Pen whose high showing and third place now holds the election in the balance."
- "However, a National-Act coalition would only have a slim majority, meaning Mr Luxon may need to secure the support of NZ First, whose leader Winston Peters has been kingmaker in previous Labour and National-led coalitions."
Etymology
From king + maker, originally used in the 16th century in “Warwick the Kingmaker”, an epithet of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (1428–1471), a key figure in the Wars of the Roses whose actions led to King Henry VI being deposed in 1461 and Edward IV appointed in his place, then Edward IV being replaced by Henry VI again in 1470.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɪŋˌmeɪkɚ/
- British English: /ˈkɪŋmeɪkə/