minority leader

American  

noun

1. the party member who directs the activities of the minority party on the floor of a legislative body, as of the U.S. Congress.

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minority leader Cultural  

1. The leader of the political party that holds a minority of seats in either house of Congress or of a state legislature. Selected by their own party caucus es, minority leaders act as chief spokespersons and strategists for their parties.

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Etymology

Origin of minority leader

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minority leader

He took on the favored candidate of Amodei and others in the GOP establishment, James Settelmeyer, a former minority leader of the state Senate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

After she was asked about a possible Senate run against minority leader Chuck Schumer, the US Senate's top Democrat, Ocasio-Cortez replied that "anything was possible".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Democrats lost their majority in 2024, but Mr. Schumer as minority leader is still the highest-ranking Jew in U.S. elective office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

And that’s particularly true of the strategies and tactics of the Senate minority leader quoted above: Harry Reid, who served as Democrats’ Senate leader from 2005 to 2017.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

Let John Sharp Williams, minority leader of the House of Representatives answer him.

From The Negro in the South His Economic Progress in Relation to his Moral and Religious Development by W. E. Burghardt DuBois