torchbearer
Americannoun
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a person who carries a torch.
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a leader in a movement, campaign, etc..
a torchbearer of democracy.
noun
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a person or thing that carries a torch
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a person who leads or inspires
Etymology
Origin of torchbearer
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.
Thousands of people waiting in a rainy Piazza del Duomo cheered as torchbearer Nicoletta Manni, an Italian ballerina, carried it into the square, over an hour behind schedule.
From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026
There has been some immediate discontent from Scottish Labour figures over this news – that after years being their sole torchbearer at Westminster, Murray has lasted barely a year as Scottish secretary.
From BBC • Sep. 5, 2025
Though a proud torchbearer for what her mother and grandmother had created, MacManus didn’t allow tradition to weigh down Cielito Lindo, as did too many of its Cal-Mex contemporaries.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 8, 2025
And its first stop on the relay that culminates in the July 26 opening ceremony will be at this cypress-ringed memorial to Coubertin, where the torchbearer will light an altar in his honor.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2024
He looked at Anya, face paling, then back at the torchbearer.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
