honcho
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of honcho
First recorded in 1945–50; from Japanese hanchō “squad or group leader,” equivalent to han “squad” (from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese bān “group”) + -chō “eldest, chief”
Explanation
A honcho is the person who's in charge. The "head honcho" in your office probably bosses everyone else around. Honcho is an informal word that was coined in the United States in the 1940s to mean "officer in charge," becoming especially popular with U.S. soldiers during the Korean War. Honcho comes from a Japanese word for "group leader," hancho, from han, "corps or squad," and cho, "head or chief." These days, the CEO of a company is as likely to be called a honcho as an Army general.
Vocabulary lists containing honcho
Like A Boss: Words for the Person in Charge
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Healer of the Water Monster
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City of the Plague God
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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.
Sargeant held meetings with General Manuel Quevedo, a military honcho who Maduro had put in charge of his fledgling oil industry.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
The band jumped over to the Sony Music label B1, whose head honcho is Wolfgang Boss - one of the first people to champion Clean Bandit back in the 2010s.
From BBC • Aug. 20, 2024
Pecker’s testimony was completely confirmed later on in the trial by Cohen, though he came off as a far less credible witness than the National Enquirer honcho.
From Slate • May 29, 2024
Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, saw the terror coming, and experienced his fair share of remorse; some of the movie’s most indelible scenes depict the Los Alamos honcho shuddering at what he hath wrought.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2024
"So, who's in town? Spielberg? The head honcho from Disney?"
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
