leadernoun [ C ]
uk/ˈliː.dər/us/ˈliː.dɚ/leader noun [ C ] (CONTROLLING)
B1 a person in control of a group, country, or situation:
a religious leader
The Russian leader wants to introduce further changes.
He's a natural leader.
She was elected as leader of the campaign group.
More examples
- He was a good strong leader, she said, who deserved his party's unreserved support.
- The leader of the religious sect and 30 of his followers killed themselves in a suicide pact last year.
- We asked him to stay on as youth leader for another year.
- The steelworkers' leader rejected the 2% pay-rise saying it was an insult to the profession.
- As project leader, you will have to allocate jobs to people.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People in charge of or controlling other people
- administrator
- authority
- bureaucrat
- chairman
- chairperson
- force
- giant
- Goliath
- guiding spirit
- headman
- helicopter parent
- hierarchy
- marshal
- on high idiom
- operator
- overlord
- paymaster
- pillar
- powerhouse
- your lord and master idiom
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leader noun [ C ] (WINNING)
C1 someone or something that is winning during a race or other situation where people are competing:
He's fallen two laps behind the leaders.
Microsoft is a world leader in software design.
More examples
- She was way behind the leaders.
- They are leaders in the fashion market.
- The leader of the race was overtaken on the last lap.
- They are global leaders in the drugs industry.
- We have a better product than the market leaders.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Winners & losers
- all-American
- be a slam dunk idiom
- champ
- champion
- championship
- dark horse
- elevator club
- front-runner
- golden generation
- match
- number one
- record holder
- reigning
- runner-up
- shoo-in
- slam dunk
- superstar
- title
- titleholder
- yo-yo club
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leader noun [ C ] (NEWSPAPER)
UK → editorial noun
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Newspapers & magazines: headlines & features
- advertorial
- agony column
- back pages
- banner headline
- bulletin
- column
- comic strip
- dateline
- double(-page) spread
- editorial
- exclusive
- filler
- funny
- lead 1
- masthead
- op-ed
- personal column
- press cutting
- pullout
- spread
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leader noun [ C ] (MUSIC)
UK US concertmaster the most important violin player in an orchestra
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Musicians
- accompanist
- arrange
- bandleader
- bandmaster
- bandsman
- drummer
- fiddler
- flautist
- flutist
- guitarist
- oboist
- one-hit wonder
- one-man band
- organ grinder
- organist
- soloist
- timpanist
- trombone
- trumpeter
- violinist
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