chairman
Americannoun
-
the presiding officer of a meeting, committee, board, etc.
-
the administrative head of a department in a high school, college, or university.
-
someone employed to carry or wheel a person in a chair.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
Also called: chairperson. chairwoman. a person who presides over a company's board of directors, a committee, a debate, an administrative department, etc
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Stuart Little
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
"We may have a new chairman, but the old guard is now worried about where the economy has moved since the beginning of the year."
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
On the evening of June 16, after the first day of his first policy meeting as Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh sat down to dinner with the 18 officials who set interest rates alongside him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Sandy McCook, Nethy Bridge Community Council chairman, said it was hoped rain that has been falling since Monday night would make a "huge difference".
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
He adds that investors should remember the saying of the late Charlie Munger, longtime vice chairman of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway: “The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
On March 14, 2008, he was invited into the presence of one of the biggest and most famous bullish investors in Wall Street banks, plus that of the illustrious former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
“Fed chairmen don’t get those seven votes just by showing up,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
There are dedicated recruitment staff at many clubs now but managers and chairmen still need a free week before any deadline, so please use some common sense and stop this madness!
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
Most chairmen leave when their terms expire, but they do not have to -- and Powell could remain a governor until 2028.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
In previous eras, Fed chairmen Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke referred to the “bond-yield conundrum,” when despite their repeated hiking of interest rates, long-term bond yields kept falling.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
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
In Manhattan last week famed, forthright Physiologist Anton J. Carlson of the University of Chicago chairmaned a meeting aimed at overcoming this situation.
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
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
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 Lynde, Francis
His plan: an Industry Council made up of an equal number of representatives from management and S. W. O. C., chairmanned by a Government man.
From Time Magazine Archive
Two interests which did not think themselves sufficiently respected were the protective bondholders' committee headed by Vice President John W. Stedman of Prudential Insurance Co. and an independent committee chairmanned by Historian Charles A. Beard.
From Time Magazine Archive
Owen D. Young chairmanned a committee to raise $1.000,000.
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
In 1941 he chairmanned the U.S.O.'s $10 million fund-raising drive.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
