All words

retinue

Meaning

A group of people who accompany an important person on a journey or to an important event.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

The queen, with her concerned retinue of ladies-in-waiting, hurried through the hushed halls. They all looked worried, their faces pale as they followed her to the sickroom, hoping for good news.

The eccentric inventor, with his wild hair and sparking goggles, stepped onto the platform. Behind him, his devoted retinue of robot assistants, each carrying strange tools and humming with anticipation, followed closely. They were ready for the unveiling of his latest, gravity-defying contraption.

The disgraced inventor, clutching his broken chronometer, faced a jeering crowd. His once-proud retinue of assistants had long since abandoned him, leaving him utterly alone with his folly.

The king, with his enormous belly and silly hat, paraded through town, his whole retinue following. This group of people, trailing behind, included a juggling clown, a knight who kept tripping, and a chef who dropped all the pastries.

The esteemed llama queen, draped in sparkly socks, led her bumbling retinue of bewildered alpacas through the confetti explosion. Each fluffy follower, tripping over its own feet, tried to keep up as their leader waddled towards the giant carrot cake, her entourage a fuzzy, comical parade.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

The weary explorer, surrounded by her loyal retinue, finally reached the summit. They had braved harsh winds and treacherous paths for weeks, their shared exhaustion a silent testament to their devotion to her quest.

The grizzled prospector, his dusty velvet coat a testament to years in the mines, surveyed the arriving stagecoach. His small, devoted retinue, a handful of hopeful young men eager to learn his secrets, gathered close, their faces alight with anticipation for the trek into the uncharted territories.

The inventor clutched her schematics, a knot of anxiety tightening as she surveyed her motley retinue. They were an unlikely collection of mechanics and cryptographers, their faces etched with fatigue but also fierce loyalty, all waiting for her to lead them into the grand hall where their radical contraption would be judged.

The pop star arrived with a dazzling retinue of bodyguards, stylists, and a man whose sole job was to fan her with a peacock feather. They swarmed around her, a glittering, slightly chaotic entourage, ensuring her every whim, from hydration to the perfect selfie angle, was met.

Bartholomew Buttercup, famed competitive cheese sculptor, arrived at the International Gouda Gala with his *retinue* of three professional crumb-polishers and a surprisingly intense alpaca named Kevin. They clattered in, a sight to behold, the alpaca sporting a tiny top hat, ready to judge the brie.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

The monarch, surrounded by her loyal retinue, entered the grand hall. Their hushed murmurs and observant eyes betrayed their anxiety, a silent testament to their duty to protect and support their leader through this tense negotiation.

The ambassador's tense *retinue* huddled close, a silent wall of worried faces surrounding him as they disembarked. Each member clutched their briefcases tighter, their eyes darting across the strangely quiet airfield. Their journey had been fraught with tension, and the purpose of this unexpected stop remained unclear.

The esteemed quantum physicist, Dr. Anya Sharma, arrived with her retinue of doctoral candidates and lab assistants, a palpable wave of nervous anticipation preceding her. Their hushed chatter ceased as they entered the hushed auditorium, each ready to witness the culmination of years of collaborative, groundbreaking research.

The pompous Duke, resplendent in his velvet breeches, surveyed his assembled retinue. These included a flock of bewildered sheep he'd insisted were "emotional support animals" and a perpetually seasick juggler. His grand procession to the annual Turnip Festival promised to be memorably peculiar.

The eccentric inventor, a man renowned for his questionable fashion choices and even more questionable elixirs, arrived at the annual convention of competitive cheese sculptors. His retinue, a bewildered collection of his former test subjects and a surprisingly well-dressed badger, trailed behind, clutching beakers and assorted, possibly sentient, taxidermy.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The beleaguered king, flanked by his grim retinue, surveyed the scorched fields. Each weary soldier, a testament to their shared ordeal, followed their sovereign through the desolate landscape, their silent presence a stark illustration of his burden.

The ambassador, sweltering in the ceremonial robes, scanned the assembled throng. His retinue, a silent phalanx of scarred veterans and anxious scribes, shuffled closer, a palpable barrier against the encroaching petitioners and their insistent pleas. Their collective presence underscored his isolation.

The grizzled prospector, his beard like spun silver, surveyed the dusty saloon. His small retinue of hardened miners, weathered faces etched with anticipation, huddled close. They’d followed him across unforgiving terrain for this one chance, this last desperate gamble.

The eccentric duke, resplendent in a peacock-feathered monocle, surveyed his peculiar retinue. It comprised a philosophical badger, a contortionist who only juggled rutabagas, and a perpetually bewildered cartographer convinced the ballroom was a hitherto undiscovered archipelago.

The esteemed mycologist, Dr. Algernon Fungi, arrived at the Annual Spore Symposium escorted by his considerable retinue of gnome assistants. Each one, clad in a tiny tweed vest, meticulously cataloged the airborne particulate matter with miniature, bespoke hygrometers, lest a stray puffball disrupt the esteemed professor’s pronouncements.

Difficulty

Challenging — Rare, high-register words for serious word lovers.

Appears in

Play word games with retinue Take the 2 minute vocabulary size test