flagship
Americannoun
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flagships
plural
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a ship carrying the flag officer or the commander of a fleet, squadron, or the like, and displaying the officer's flag.
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the main vessel of a shipping company.
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any of the best or largest ships or airplanes operated by a passenger line.
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the best or most important one of a group or system.
This store is the flagship of our retail chain.
adjective
noun
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a ship, esp in a fleet, aboard which the commander of the fleet is quartered
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the most important ship belonging to a shipping company
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a single item from a related group considered as the most important, often in establishing a public image
the nine o'clock news is the flagship of the BBC
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flagship
Explanation
Traditionally, the commander of a navy traveled in the flagship, which was distinguished by flying his distinctive flag. You can also call the ship in the front of a fleet the flagship. The flagship is generally the most powerful in some way — better armed, or larger, than the ships that follow it. Ultimately, the most important thing about a flagship is that it's first. Based on this meaning, another kind of flagship is something that's the first, best, or biggest example of something — a product, store, or program, for example. Starbucks' enormous flagship coffee shop, the company's largest and fanciest shop, is in Seattle, Washington.
Vocabulary lists containing flagship
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.
See Examples For:
Tennessee’s flagship university paid $1.9 million to a professor it fired after Fox News pounced on her comments.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
They suggest that A. syrax could become a flagship species for conservation in the region, joining other rare animals found there, including the Asian forest tortoise, Oldham's leaf turtle and the Indochinese tiger.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Air Jordan prices have also been stable, barely moving for the flagship models at around $185.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
The event is being managed by the organizers of the IndyCar championship, the US motorsport whose cars resemble Formula One vehicles but often compete on oval tracks, including at the flagship Indianapolis 500 race.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
The new department was revealed at SmartMart s flagship store in Dallas earlier in the week.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Students who don’t get into major public flagships the traditional way are still participating in the social life of these campuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Once completed, Trump said the armed vessels would be equipped to carry hypersonic and "extremely lethal" weapons, and would be the flagships of the US Navy.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025
From glamorous flagships like the Ace Hotel to locals-only dives like Hank’s, downtown has lost a lot of the places that made it such a compelling place to live and party.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
As many reports have pointed out, PBS and NPR, along with their news flagships, “PBS NewsHour” and “All Things Considered,” will not disappear.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2025
Article 9 provides a similar signal for flagships.
From Fighting Instructions, 1530-1816 Publications Of The Navy Records Society Vol. XXIX. by Julian S. (Julian Stafford) Corbett
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.
