ringleader
Americannoun
-
ringleaders
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ringleader
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:
Aliyu's report of the incident to the police prompted what the commissioner described as an "intelligence-driven operation" that led to the arrest of the alleged ringleader and subsequently the other suspects.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
In December, a court in the US also sentenced Oluwaseun Adekoya, a Nigerian ringleader of nationwide bank fraud and money-laundering conspiracies, to 20 years in prison for laundering over $2m.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
There is also something less expected: tears, especially from ringleader Johnny Knoxville.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The ringleader ended up pleading guilty and being sentenced to more than 10 years in prison; the other three received sentences ranging from 18 months to five years.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
Since I was the ringleader, he’d try to distract me by asking what skills I was learning in gymnastics.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
![]()
The Secretariat of the Commission for Combating Cybercrime said Cambodian courts handled 37 major cases between 2025 and mid-January 2026, resulting in the conviction of 172 ringleaders and accomplices.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
Energy Transfer identified two U.S.-based Greenpeace entities and the umbrella group Greenpeace International as the ringleaders responsible for the pipeline fiasco.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Two 45-year-old Iraqi Kurds identified as the ringleaders of the smuggling network received the heaviest terms -- 12 and 15 years -- over the deaths of seven Afghans trying to reach the English coast.
From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025
Tech stocks were at the forefront, with familiar ringleaders Nvidia and Super Micro Computer again pulling the market higher.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2024
They demanded the names of the adult ringleaders.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
![]()
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.