ringleader
Americannoun
noun
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.
The alleged ringleader, Alan Carrillo, was charged with theft and “altering, planting or concealing evidence.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Beijing has also called Chen "the ringleader of a major cross-border gambling and fraud criminal syndicate", and Cambodia deported him to China last week.
From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026
Chen Zhi, the alleged ringleader of one of Asia’s largest scam conglomerates, was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China, the Cambodian government said Wednesday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
Investigators first became suspicious when the septuagenarian ringleader attempted to sell two supposedly original paintings by Picasso on the art market.
From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025
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
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.
