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• director general
  director general

  noun

  the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
• director-general
  director-general

  noun

  the head of a large organization such as the CBI or BBC

director general

American  

noun

• directors general
  plural

1. the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.

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director-general British  

noun

1. the head of a large organization such as the CBI or BBC

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• directors general
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of director general

First recorded in 1875–80

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

director general director-general

Paramount chief executive David Ellison has asked CNN boss Mark Thompson - the former director general of the BBC - to remain at the helm after the takeover closes.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

But the BBC's new director general comes from Google.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain Al-Musallam said "numbers are facts", pointing to 50 world records broken at the Games since they opened on September 19.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

BBC director general Matt Brittin also paid tribute to Dame Esther, describing her as a "legend of British broadcasting" whose contribution to public life was "immeasurable".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Perhaps Yi Young-hoon, the director general of the National Museum of Korea, said it best.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

“All the patients have improved markedly and are currently stable under strict observation and treatment,” Patrick Amoth, director-general of Kenya’s Ministry of Health, said this week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

On Thursday Rafael Grossi, the capable director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed indications of “movement” around the construction site.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea, 67, who was Peru's foreign minister from November 2023 to September 2024, joined the contest to become director-general of the International Labour Organization before nominations closed at the end of Monday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the IAEA, said in March that Iran had "announced their intention to have nuclear activity there", external.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

The fair’s director-general, George Davis, at first refused to believe it.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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