The American HeritageĀ® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
adj. Of or relating to a praetor or the praetorship.
adj. Of or belonging to the Praetorian Guard.
adj. Venal; corruptible: "A large praetorian bureaucracy, filled with ambitious, possessive . . . and often sycophantic people, makes work and makes troubleā ( Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.)
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
adj. See pretorian.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adj. characteristic of or similar to the corruptible soldiers in the Praetorian Guard with respect to corruption or political venality
n. a member of the Praetorian Guard
adj. of or relating to a Roman praetor
Word Usage
"The Japanese, on the contrary, were enrolled as a kind of praetorian guard, or janissaries; in this character, however, their pride and power became so formidable that the king grew uneasy and disbanded them."