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• director general
  director general

  noun

  the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
• director-general
  director-general

  noun

  the head of a large organization such as the CBI or BBC

director general

American  

noun

directors general plural

1. the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.

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director-general British  

noun

1. the head of a large organization such as the CBI or BBC

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• directors general
  plural

Etymology

Origin of director general

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

director general director-general

MI5's director general, Sir Ken McCallum, apologised for any distress caused by "mistakes in the litigation"

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

AfricaMuseum director general Bart Ouvry said the Belgian institution turned down KoBold's offer over concerns about giving a single private actor privileged access.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

There was no immediate comment by the IAEA, whose director general, Rafael Grossi, is at the talks in Switzerland.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Also under scrutiny is the alleged proximity between Diez and Mercedes Gonzalez, a former Socialist activist and elected official who was appointed director general of the Civil Guard in 2024 at the government's proposal.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Perhaps Yi Young-hoon, the director general of the National Museum of Korea, said it best.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

Dr Emma Meredith, director-general of the CTPA, says it does not support young people using anti-ageing products or complex and unnecessary routines.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Monday that the outbreak was outpacing response efforts, partly because of “significant distrust of outside authorities.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

The director-general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, has warned repeatedly about the risk of a radioactive incident at such plants.

From Salon ● May 21, 2026

CDC director-general Lo Yi-chun told reporters that the person did not return to New Zealand after leaving the cruise ship, but he would not provide information on the route they took to Taiwan.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

“It may not occur to you how very important a matter this Seal is,” he wrote in a December 8, 1890, letter to George R. Davis, the fair’s director-general, its chief political officer.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson