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View synonyms for leading light

leading light

[ lee-ding ]

noun

  1. an important or influential person:

    a leading light of the community.



leading light

/ ˈliːdɪŋ /

noun

  1. an important or outstanding person, esp in an organization or cause
  2. nautical a less common term for range light
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of leading light1

First recorded in 1870–75
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Idioms and Phrases

An important or influential individual, as in Jim was a leading light in his community . This expression, alluding to moral guidance, dates from about 1870, but terms such as a shining light have been used for an outstanding person since the first half of the 1500s.
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Example Sentences

President Obama delivered a soaring eulogy for the late Richard Holbrooke today, calling him a "leading light" of U.S. diplomacy.

Phil May was a leading light of the society, and the grimy and bedaubed plaster laughed with his conceits at every turn.

Since Guerrita, not a single matador of leading light has arisen.

One of them, the leading light of the local Nationalist party, is rated at £8.

Mr. Waldron: These people will think North Dakota is a dark place if this is a leading light.

In due time he would become a leading light and go to Congress.

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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.

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