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English (US)

Meaning of sovereign in English

sovereign
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈsɑːv.rən/ uk
/ˈsɒv.ər.ɪn/

sovereign noun [C] (RULER)

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a king or queen
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Royalty, aristocracy & titles
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

sovereign noun [C] (COIN)

a British gold coin that was in use in Britain from 1817 to 1914 and was worth £1
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British money
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sovereign
adjective
us
/ˈsɑːv.rən/ uk
/ˈsɒv.ər.ɪn/

sovereign adjective (GOVERNMENT)

[ before noun ]
having the highest power or being completely independent:
Sovereign power is said to lie with the people in some countries, and with a ruler in others.
sovereign state/nation We must respect the rights of sovereign states/nations to conduct their own affairs.
Synonyms
autonomous
independent (NOT RULED)
self-governing
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Politics - general words
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sovereign adjective (EXCELLENT)

sovereign remedy UK old-fashioned or formal
an extremely successful way of dealing with a problem:
Love is a sovereign remedy for unhappiness.
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(Definition of sovereign from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

sovereign | Intermediate English

sovereign
noun [ C ]
us
/ˈsɑv·rən, ˈsɑv·ər·ən/
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world history
a king or queen, or a person having the power to govern a country

sovereign

adjective [ not gradable ] us
/ˈsɑv·rən, ˈsɑv·ər·ən/
Algeria was a colony but now is a sovereign nation.
(Definition of sovereign from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

sovereign | Business English

sovereign
adjective [ before noun ]
  GOVERNMENT, FINANCE
uk
/ˈsɒvərɪn/ us
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used to describe money that is borrowed or invested by national governments:
Asian sovereign funds are increasingly investing in European and US companies.
(Definition of sovereign from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of sovereign

sovereign
Oil and gas are financial drivers for many of the sovereign funds in the world.
From ABC News
Investors buy sovereign bonds to have stable, nearly risk-free investments.
From Business Insider
But whether these warm feelings actually matter when it comes to formal alliances between sovereign states is unclear.
From The Atlantic
For under the most powerful and most sovereign of all rulers, it was bestowed upon mankind.
From cleveland.com
A handful of these incursions actually violated sovereign airspace.
From Washington Times
Accordingly, the standalone ratings, in almost all cases, proved resilient to the sovereign downgrade.
From Business Insider
So we argue that we need a more equitable approach to sovereign debt restructuring, and this is needed urgently.
From Voice of America
That would be the first full sovereign default since 2008.
From Reuters
The country's sovereign waters are also being explored for coastal development (tourism, ports) opportunities and gas reserves.
From Phys.Org
This funding pressure carries over to sovereigns that are not as creditworthy as others, increasing opportunities for disruptive shocks.
From Business Insider
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of sovereign?
 

Translations of sovereign

in Chinese (Traditional)
統治者, 君主, 元首…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
统治者, 君主, 元首…
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in Spanish
soberano, soberana…
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in Portuguese
soberano, soberana, libra em ouro…
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in more languages
in Turkish
in French
in Dutch
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
müstakil, bağımsız, hükümdar…
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souverain/-e, souverain…
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vorst, soeverein…
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panovník, -ice, suverénní…
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monark, selvstændig…
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raja atau ratu, berdaulat…
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ผู้มีอำนาจสูงสุดของประเทศ, เกี่ยวกับอำนาจสูงสุด…
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nữ hoàng, hoàng đế, có chủ quyền…
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suwerenny, władca…
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monark, regent, suverän…
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raja, berdaulat…
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der Souverän, souverän…
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konge/dronning, suveren, selvstendig…
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монарх, суверенний, незалежний…
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суверенный, независимый…
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