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Synonyms

chieftain

American  
[cheef-tuhn, -tin] / ˈtʃif tən, -tɪn /

noun

  1. the chief of a clan or a tribe.

  2. a leader of a group, band, etc..

    the robbers' chieftain.

  3. 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).


chieftain British  
/ ˈtʃiːftən, -tɪn /

noun

  1. the head or leader of a tribe or clan

  2. the chief of a group of people

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of chieftain

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English cheftayne, variant of chevetaine, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus “chief”; see 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.

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde—Gen. Franco to you and me; Caudillo de España, or chieftain of Spain, to his countrymen—died on Nov. 20, 1975.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

It was López Hernández who, while governor of Tabasco, appointed the alleged mob chieftain to the security post.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2025

Charity Adams, changed back to “Fort Lee,” I can only imagine how the SCV and others would respond to a re-renaming after any Lee other than their holy Confederate chieftain.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2025

Now, the mercenary chieftain would be subordinated to Mr. Shoigu, an unparalleled political survivor in modern Russia and Mr. Prigozhin’s sworn enemy.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2023

The three pretty girls giggled and were instantly smothered by the navy-blue eye of the chieftain, backed by a hiss from the patriarch.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

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