A headmaster is a man who is the head teacher of a school.
[mainly British]
Synonyms: principal, head [informal], head teacher, rector More Synonyms of headmaster
headmaster in British English
(ˌhɛdˈmɑːstə)
noun
a male principal of a school
Gender-neutral form: head teacher
Derived forms
headmastership (ˌheadˈmasterˌship)
noun
headmaster in American English
(ˈhedˈmæstər, -ˈmɑːstər)
noun
a man in charge of a private school
Derived forms
headmastership
noun
Word origin
[1570–80; head + master]
Examples of 'headmaster' in a sentence
headmaster
The disappointed deputy headmaster smile much in evidence.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The headmaster left saying the staff were being ripped off.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He was deputy headmaster for nine years as well as acting head.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
My headmaster says that the capacity to inspire is the most important attitude for any teacher.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
But we got caught by the deputy headmaster.
The Sun (2011)
The headmaster ran the school as most schools were run then: on punishment and negative reinforcement.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
As a former headmaster used to say, it is for your own good.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
A former headmaster served as clerk to the governors as well as to the appeals panels at the two schools.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The headmaster of a school in a pretty town on the south coast was stunned when he arrived from his inner-city academy.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
I spent a lot of time being summoned to the headmaster's office.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I have had harsher punishment in the headmaster's office.
The Sun (2013)
The former headmaster's study is in the curved section, with a dramatic sweep of windows.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It was to take place in the headmaster's study on the Monday morning.
Edward Beauclerk Maurice THE LAST OF THE GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS: Coming of Age in the Arctic (2004)
We didn't have a teacher so the headmaster gave us a book that he called a "classic'.
Max Arthur Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 19011910 in the words of the Men & Women Who WereThere (2006)
At the time of the attack the two brothers were on their way to the gym and managed to hide under a desk in the headmaster's study.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
headmaster
British English: headmaster NOUN
A headmaster is a man who is the head teacher of a school.
American English: headmaster
Brazilian Portuguese: diretor de escola
Chinese: 私立学校校长
European Spanish: director
French: directeur
German: Schulleiter
Italian: preside
Japanese: 校長
Korean: > 교장남자
European Portuguese: diretor de escola
Latin American Spanish: director
Chinese translation of 'headmaster'
headmaster
(hɛdˈmɑːstəʳ) (Brit)
n(c)
校长(長) (xiàozhǎng) (位, wèi)
(noun)
He was headmaster of Stratford Grammar.
Synonyms
principal
the principal of the local high school
head (informal)
full of admiration for the head and teachers
head teacher
One of the photos must be signed by your head teacher.
rector
Usage note
The general trend of nonsexist language is to find a term which can apply to both sexes equally, as in the use of actor to refer to both men and women. This being so, head teacher is usually preferable to the gender-specific terms headmaster and headmistress.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of head
full of admiration for the head and teachers
Synonyms
head teacher,
principal,
headmaster or headmistress
in the sense of head teacher
Definition
the principal of a school
One of the photos must be signed by your head teacher.