Jump To:

• 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.

---

director-general British  

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• directors general
  plural

Etymology

Origin of director general

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

director general director-general

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last week that the verification arrangements appeared to be adequate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

The police have launched a manhunt for Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who had been presenting himself as the "PFIPC director general", on suspicion of forgery, impersonation and related offences.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

AfricaMuseum director general Bart Ouvry said the Belgian institution turned down KoBold's offer over concerns about giving a single private actor privileged access.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

"Canada's voice in this community makes us stronger," Noel Curran, director general of the EBU, said.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

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

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

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

He is the first director-general since Greg Dyke in 2000 to take on the role having not been a former BBC employee.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

The agency's director-general Gilbert Houngbo "has decided to rescind the appointment of the deputy director-general, considering continued delays in the payment of arrears", the ILO said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

“Hospitals are fighting with no tools at all,” Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, said at a briefing Saturday in Kampala, in neighboring Uganda.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026

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

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