hold sway
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To have great influence or control over something
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
có ảnh hưởng hoặc kiểm soát lớn đối với một thứ gì
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: hold power or authority
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The king's advisor held sway over the monarch's decisions
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “hold sway” mean?
To have great influence or control over something Literally: hold power or authority
Is “hold sway” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.