chief

American  

[cheef] / tʃif /

noun

• chiefs
  plural

1. the head or leader of an organized body of people; the person highest in authority.

   the chief of police.

2. the head or ruler of a tribe or clan.

   an Indian chief.

3. U.S. Army. Chief, a title of some advisers to the Chief of Staff, who do not, in most instances, command the troop units of their arms or services.

   Chief of Engineers;

   Chief Signal Officer.

4. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. boss or leader.

   We'll have to talk to the chief about this.

5. Heraldry.

   1. the upper area of an escutcheon.

   2. an ordinary occupying this area.

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adjective

1. highest in rank or authority.

   the chief priest;

   the chief administrator.

   Antonyms:

   subordinate

2. most important; principal.

   his chief merit;

   the chief difficulty.

   Synonyms:

   paramount, prime, leading, foremost, cardinal

adverb

1. Archaic. chiefly; principally.

idioms

1. in chief,

   1. in the chief position; highest in rank (used in combination).

      editor in chief; commander in chief.

   2. Heraldry. in the upper part of an escutcheon.

chief British  

/ tʃiːf /

noun

1. the head, leader, or most important individual in a group or body of people

2. another word for chieftain

3. heraldry the upper third of a shield

4. primarily; especially

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adjective

1. (prenominal)

   1. most important; principal

   2. highest in rank or authority

adverb

1. archaic principally

Sensitive Note

See powwow.

Synonym Usage

See capital ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chiefship
  noun
• subchief
  noun
• underchief
  noun
• chiefless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chiefs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chief

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French chief, chef, Old French chef, from unattested Vulgar Latin capum, re-formation of Latin caput head

Explanation

A chief is a leader, often of a tribe or clan. Sometimes we call the president our "commander in chief." A chief is the head honcho, the big cheese, the top dog. Tribes are lead by chiefs, but so are firefighters (fire chief), policeman (police chief), and companies (Chief Executive Officer or CEO). When used as an adjective, chief describes the most important element or main ingredient of something. You couldn't make mac and cheese without the chief ingredients: macaroni and cheese.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chief chiefs

“You do expect strong earnings growth to continue, but higher rates can easily overwhelm that if things really back up,” said Matt Stucky, chief portfolio manager, equities at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

"Roblox will not become a bank. The wallet is a financial account, not a bank account," Enrico D'Angelo, the company's chief commercial officer, said at a press briefing.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

The chief executive of OpenAI, Sam Altman, this week signaled to staff a willingness to unilaterally slow their work on frontier systems.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Jonathan Agnew, the former England fast bowler and the BBC's chief cricket commentator, called the tactics "appalling".

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“This particular Butterfly was modeled after a real one caught by our commander in chief about eighteen years ago. He was one of the first members of Mayhem we ever caught.”

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Police chiefs also say they have initiated an "enhanced and co-ordinated" approach to gathering as much intelligence as possible in the days ahead.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

While previous news chiefs typically steered clear of “60 Minutes,” Weiss is more hands-on, saying previously, “what’s being called ‘editorial interference’ is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

Tuesday's issues follow a technical glitch in July last year that saw scores of flights to and from the UK cancelled and which prompted anger from airline chiefs.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

UK cyber chiefs say it's time to ditch passwords for passkeys - what are they?

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Behind Atahuallpa came two other litters and two hammocks, in which were some high chiefs, then several squadrons of Indians with crowns of gold and silver.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• captain
• commander
• director
• head
• leader
• manager
• ruler
• superintendent
• supervisor