He runs the company by fiat. the school principal issued a fiat that caps were not to be worn inside the school, and that was that

Recent Examples on the Web

First, government payments to individuals and businesses alike are weakening the U.S. fiat (physical cash) system. Catherine Coley, Fortune, "Why 2020 might be the year cryptocurrency goes mainstream," 24 Aug. 2020

Sounds exciting, but the U.S. isn't necessarily planning to make a switch to cryptocurrency, or some hybrid fiat-crypto dollar ... Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "The Government Is Playing Around With a Hybrid Crypto Dollar," 15 June 2020

Public gyms were either closed or prohibited for use by NBA fiat as well. Jeff Mcdonald, ExpressNews.com, "For San Antonio Spurs, chance to resume no slam dunk," 3 July 2020

Across the country, states have taken actions big and small, early and only recently, by regulation and recommendation, by executive fiat and through legislative action. Richard Wolf, USA TODAY, "States are playing an outsized role in fighting coronavirus, but they are far from united," 26 Mar. 2020

But the world’s second-biggest economy will not heal by Mr Xi’s fiat alone. The Economist, "Flowerbeds of enterprise Private companies have put down strong roots in China," 30 Apr. 2020

The popularity of New Order’s Singularity offers a last hope against restrictions that are not entirely based on science but come from the fiat of leaders who claim to know what’s best. Armond White, National Review, "Rebellion, New Order–Style: What Happened to It?," 16 Apr. 2020

Hottman acknowledged that financial help at this point to hospitals may be hard to accept for others whose businesses and livelihoods were eliminated by executive fiat. oregonlive, "Oregon hospitals seek $200 million state rescue package as coronavirus outbreak drains their finances," 8 Apr. 2020

From Asia to Europe to North America, people are losing their jobs by government fiat. Peter S. Goodman, New York Times, "The Nordic Way to Economic Rescue," 28 Mar. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fiat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.