chieftain
Americannoun
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the chief of a clan or a tribe.
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a leader of a group, band, etc..
the robbers' chieftain.
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Military. Chieftain, Britain's main battle tank since 1969, fitted with a 120 mm gun and two machine guns and weighing 55 tons (50 metric tons).
noun
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the head or leader of a tribe or clan
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the chief of a group of people
Other Word Forms
- chieftaincy noun
- chieftainship noun
Etymology
Origin of chieftain
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English cheftayne, variant of chevetaine, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus “chief”; captain
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.
Zero rates took the pressure off corporate chieftains to restructure, innovate, and take risks, as Japan Inc. did before QE arrived.
From Barron's
Zero rates took the pressure off corporate chieftains to restructure, innovate, and take risks, as Japan Inc. did before QE arrived.
From Barron's
All of this—the building, the branding, the energy evident in the city and its corporate chieftains—caught the eye of a young artist who had recently moved to New York.
On the other hand, the possibly revolutionary impact from artificial intelligence argues that maybe it is still early days, no matter how abrasively these chieftains behave.
From MarketWatch
Crypto kings, billionaires needing agency approvals, felons buying pardons, AI chieftains on the prowl.
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.
