Darth Vader definition

Etymology

Derived from the fictional character, Darth Vader, itself derived from either Dark Lord of the Sith or a blend of "dark" and "death", both of which form Darth, and the Dutch word for father.

Proper noun

Darth Vader

A powerful individual or force, particularly one that is seen as malevolent, dominating, and threatening.
- Robert Whiting, The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime (2004) p. 130:
  
  Irabu had hired Nomura, a man with whom he obviously had a great deal in common, and, who, as we have seen, was rapidly becoming the Darth Vader of Japanese baseball.
- Marleen S. Barr, Envisioning the Future: Science Fiction and the Next Millennium (2003) p. xvii:
  
  Bush's missile shield plan positions him as Darth Vader.
- James Price Dillard, Michael Pfau, The Persuasion Handbook: the Persuasion Handbook (c): Developments in Theory and Practice (2002) p. 611:
  
  Commonly assumed to exert massive effects on the electorate, political spots (notably negative ones) have been teasingly called the Darth Vader of modern politics...
- Jon Lewis, The New American Cinema (1998) p. 108:
  
  In two different speeches the vice president called Malone, alternately “the Darth Vader of the cable industry,” and “[the man who runs] the cable Cosa Nostra.”