all-powerful
adjEtymology From all- + powerful.
1
Having unlimited power; omnipotent.
- Imagination is faithful when it is all-powerful.1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 235:
- The friendless Italian was a much safer person than the niece of the all-powerful minister, whose ambition would not stop but at the throne. Francesca might be allowed to detach him from Mademoiselle Mancini, and could then be easily flung aside.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 241:
3 more examples
- "Why, dost thou believe that I, who am all-powerful, I, whose loveliness is more than the loveliness of the Grecian Helen, of whom they used to sing, and whose wisdom is wider, ay, far more wide and deep than the wisdom of Solomon the Wise [...] why, I say, oh stranger, dost thou think that I herd here with barbarians lower than the beasts?"1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- The desirable Miss Moneypenny, M's all-powerful private secretary, gave him an encouraging smile and he walked through the double doors.1954, Ian Fleming, “Interview with M”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 13:
- But in his 1996 novel, Holy Fire, [Bruce] Sterling imagines a rather different future: a world ruled by an all-powerful gerontocracy, which appropriates most of the world's wealth to pay for ever more costly life-extension techniques.1997 March 9, Paul Krugman, “Does Getting Old Cost Society Too Much?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Synonyms
- almighty, omnipotent