chief executive

American  

[cheef ig-zek-yuh-tiv] / ˈtʃif ɪgˈzɛk yə tɪv /

noun

1. the president of the United States.

   the powers of the chief executive, as granted by the Constitution.

2. the governor of a U.S. state.

   the newly elected chief executive of Rhode Island.

3. the head of a government.

   a conference attended by all the European chief executives.

4. Also called chief executive officer.  the head of an organization, company, etc..

   the chief executive of a media corporation.

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chief executive British  

noun

1. the person with overall responsibility for the efficient running of a company, organization, etc

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Etymology

Origin of chief executive

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Example Sentences

SAN JOSE—Hardik Nahata was browsing merchandise at Nvidia’s annual conference when an item caught his eye: a green sweater with a cartoon depiction of Jensen Huang, the chip giant’s chief executive, emblazoned on the front.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

“The disruption hasn’t gone away,” said Sherman Miller, chief executive of Cal-Maine, the largest egg producer in the U.S., in an April investor call.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

“This is not a red versus blue issue,” said Sheila Clark, president and chief executive of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Assn.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

Reopening Hormuz opens the door for a broader lift in sentiment, according to Nigel Green, chief executive officer at deVere Group.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

Since there had never been a republican chief executive, there was no readily available vocabulary to characterize such a creature, except the verbal traditions that had built up around European courts and kings.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis