headhunter
Americannoun
-
a person who engages in headhunting.
-
a personnel recruiter for a corporation or executive recruitment agency.
-
an executive recruitment agency.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of headhunter
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:
Platner, who had no political experience, was recruited into the race by Daniel Moraff, an Ivy League–educated consultant who served as a headhunter for progressive and unconventional Democratic candidates.
From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026
ByteDance, which has the biggest AI team in Chinese tech, sometimes pays salaries two or three times the market average to recruit top talent, said industry headhunter Shen Wei.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
He quickly shut down a headhunter who had reached out to him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
The city brought in a headhunter before Soboroff left, but the position has now been unfilled for longer than Soboroff’s 90-day tenure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2025
Working as a kind of headhunter, John became the middleman, finding the right skilled, trustworthy crews to do the jobs.
From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba
In 1989, headhunters called again, and he accepted the job of chairman and CEO at RJR Nabisco, which had been acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in a deal that loaded the company up with debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
In November, Britain's domestic intelligence agency warned that Chinese spies disguised as headhunters had targeted parliamentarians online.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
"An overhaul creates nervousness among all employees, also among the top performers," said Lars Schweizer, professor of finance at Frankfurt University, adding they often get approached by headhunters with offers from competitors.
From Reuters ● Jun. 12, 2023
And that's a massive resource for military headhunters to tap.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2023
“You make it to keep the headhunters off you. Look, there they are!”
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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.
