chairman
Americannoun
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chairmen
plural
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the presiding officer of a meeting, committee, board, etc.
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the administrative head of a department in a high school, college, or university.
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someone employed to carry or wheel a person in a chair.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Also called: chairperson, chairwoman. a person who presides over a company's board of directors, a committee, a debate, an administrative department, etc
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history someone who carries a sedan chair
Usage
Chairman can seem inappropriate when applied to a woman, while chairwoman can be offensive. Chair and chairperson can be applied to either a man or a woman; chair is generally preferred to chairperson
Gender
Is it chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson? See chairperson.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of chairman
Explanation
A chairman is the leader of a business meeting or group. The chairman often opens a meeting by addressing the group and explaining what the agenda will be. Charities, clubs, and the boards of companies have a chairman who acts as president or leader. The noun chairman can refer to this person, whether male or female, though sometimes a woman is called a chairwoman. These days, it's more common still to simply call her (or him) a chair. The word chairman comes from a sense of "occupying a chair of authority," while "presiding member of a corporate body" first emerged in the 18th century.
Vocabulary lists containing chairman
The Legislative Branch, Sections 4–6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Michael Cembalest, the chairman of market and investment strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management, said the risk isn’t so much to next year but the year after.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
On Wednesday morning, Herzog was presented with the official results by Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
His decision not to seek the minority leadership clears the way for a contest between current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
Lefebvre joined MTY in 2009 and rose to become chief financial officer before becoming CEO in 2018, when Ma left the role but remained chairman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
“I object to any such remarks addressed to a witness before this committee,” the chairman said, “and I will ask that Mr. Burnham withdraw his remark.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
The term lasts four years, but most chairmen serve longer and there are no term limits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
New Federal Reserve chairmen don’t come around often.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Indeed, Warsh was less willing than previous Fed chairmen to speculate much on the path of the economy, inflation and interest rates during his first press conference.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Sullivan and Gold became joint chairmen of West Ham when they completed their takeover of the club in January 2010.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
I started calling department chairmen to ask for another week, another ten days—‘more time to reach a decision’— to avoid the decision I would have to make.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
The Senate committee, chairmaned by Florida's New-Dealing Pepper, proposed to do something to better the nation's health.
From Time Magazine Archive
At Edinburgh in 1910 he chairmaned the great interdenominational world conference, out of which evolved in 1920 the I.M.C., which he has headed ever since.
From Time Magazine Archive
As such he supervised the corporation's financial affairs, chairmaned some of its most important committees.
From Time Magazine Archive
It provides that all legal disputes which may arise between Austria and Czechoslovakia are to be submitted to an impartial commission chairmaned by an appointee of the Swiss Government.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was late in the afternoon of the same day that the Federative Council sent its committee, chairmaned by Engineer Scott, to interview the ex-general manager at his rooms in the Clarendon.
From The Grafters by Francis Lynde
Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, chairmanned by President Hoover's great & good friend Henry Mauris Robinson, reported a ratio of cash & Governments to deposits of 26%.
From Time Magazine Archive
Because of shrewdly worded British reservations the Import Duties Advisory Committee chairmanned by hatchet-faced, be-monocled Sir George May can up tariffs to protect any British industry which asked protection before the "truce" was signed.
From Time Magazine Archive
In London the German and Italian Ambassadors fortnight ago showed the solidarity of Berlin and Rome by arriving together for sessions of the increasingly farcical International Committee for Non-intervention chairmanned by Lord Plymouth.
From Time Magazine Archive
He took a conspicuous but uninspired part in G. O. Politics, chairmanned the 1930 Senatorial Campaign committee.
From Time Magazine Archive
In 1941 he chairmanned the U.S.O.'s $10 million fund-raising drive.
From Time Magazine Archive
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