What does "king" mean?
A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
King
/kɪŋ/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
- Grammar: king is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: rex, ace, anointed king, atheling.
- Useful contrasts: beginner, commoner, cromwell.
- Usage evidence: When I grow up, I want to be a king.
How to use "king"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "king" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "king" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "king" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "king" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "king" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "rex" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "king", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy; in an absolute monarchy, the supreme ruler of his nation.
"Henry VIII was the king of England from 1509 to 1547."
- 2 Alternative form of qing (“Chinese musical instrument”). alt-of, alternative
- 3 radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter K.
- 4 (chess) the weakest but the most important piece wordnet
- 5 The monarch with the most power and authority in a monarchy, regardless of sex.
"The British Parliament has had made it for it in the past the claim that it could do anything excepting convert a woman into a man.[…]And the high court [of Amsterdam] has done it by deciding that all officials and public servants shall take their oath of allegiance not to Queen Wilhelmina but to King Wilhelmina."
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 The title of a king.
"As we climbed the Marykirk Bank Ogilvie spoke of the passes leading over to Deeside, and of the Royal deer forests around Balmoral; then, with mingled pride and modesty, he added, "I've driven the King seven times.""
- 7 one of the four playing cards in a deck bearing the picture of a king wordnet
- 8 A powerful or majorly influential person; someone who holds the preeminent position.
"Howard Stern styled himself as the "king of all media"."
- 9 a checker that has been moved to the opponent's first row where it is promoted to a piece that is free to move either forward or backward wordnet
- 10 Something that has a preeminent position. countable, uncountable
"In times of financial panic, cash is king."
- 11 a very wealthy or powerful businessperson wordnet
- 12 A component of certain games.; The principal chess piece, that players seek to threaten with unavoidable capture to result in a victory by checkmate. It is often the tallest piece, with a symbolic crown with a cross at the top.
"The objective of each player is to place the opponent’s king ‘under attack’ in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. […] If the arbiter observes both kings are in check, or a pawn stands on the rank furthest from its starting position, he/she shall wait until the next move is completed."
- 13 a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom wordnet
- 14 A component of certain games.; A playing card with the letter "K" and the image of a king on it, the thirteenth card in a given suit.
- 15 a male competitor who holds a preeminent position wordnet
- 16 A component of certain games.; A checker (a piece of checkers/draughts) that reached the farthest row forward, thus becoming crowned (either by turning it upside-down, or by stacking another checker on it) and gaining more freedom of movement.
- 17 the husband or widower of a queen wordnet
- 18 A component of certain games.; The central pin or skittle in bowling games.
"In knockemdowns and bowls ten pins are used, the centre one being called the king, and the ball has to be grounded before it reaches the frame."
- 19 preeminence in a particular category or group or field wordnet
- 20 A king skin. UK, slang
"Oi mate, have you got kings?"
- 21 A male dragonfly; a drake.
- 22 A king-sized bed.
"Try asking for a king-size bed next time because kings are usually firmer."
- 23 A vertex in a directed graph which can reach every other vertex via a path with a length of at most 2.
Verb
- 1 To crown king, to make (a person) king.
"1982, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, South Atlantic Review, Volume 47, page 16, The kinging of Macbeth is the business of the first part of the play […] ."
- 2 To rule over as king.
"And let us do it with no show of fear; / No, with no more than if we heard that England / Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance; / For, my good liege, she is so idly king’d, / Her sceptre so fantastically borne / By a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth, / That fear attends her not."
- 3 To perform the duties of a king.
"1918, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, The Railroad Trainman, Volume 35, page 675, He had to do all his kinging after supper, which left him no time for roystering with the nobility and certain others."
- 4 To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.
"The seating arrangement of the temple was the Almanach de Gotha of Congregation Emanu-el. Old Ben Reitman, patriarch among the Jewish settlers of Winnebago, who had come over an immigrant youth, and who now owned hundreds of rich farm acres, besides houses, mills and banks, kinged it from the front seat of the center section."
- 5 To promote a piece of draughts/checkers that has traversed the board to the opposite side, that piece subsequently being permitted to move backwards as well as forwards.
"If the machine does this, it will lose only one point, and as it is not looking far enough ahead, it cannot see that it has not prevented its opponent from kinging but only postponed the evil day."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To dress and perform as a drag king.
"Through the ex-centric diaspora, kinging in postcolonial Australia has become a site of critical hybridity where diasporic female masculinities have emerged through the contestations of "home" and "host" cultures."
Proper Noun
- 1 An English and Scottish surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for someone who either acted as if he were a king or had worked in the king's household. countable, uncountable
"The Russians clinched the victory when Vera Zvonareva rallied to defeat Vania King, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the first reverse singles match, giving her team a 3-0 lead. […] After Russia went ahead, 3-0, Ahsha Rolle defeated Elena Vesnina, 6-3, 6-4, then King paired with Liezel Huber to beat Vesnina and Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (3), 6-4, in the doubles."
- 2 King class, a class of steam locomotives once used on the GWR. UK, countable, uncountable
- 3 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Gibson County, Indiana. countable, uncountable
- 4 A number of places in the United States:; A city in Stokes County and Forsyth County, North Carolina. countable, uncountable
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; A neighbourhood in north-east Portland, Oregon. countable, uncountable
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Clay County, West Virginia. countable, uncountable
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Wetzel County, West Virginia. countable, uncountable
- 8 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Lincoln County, Wisconsin. countable, uncountable
- 9 A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Farmington, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. countable, uncountable
- 10 A township in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. countable, uncountable
- 11 A village on New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. countable, uncountable
Example
"When I grow up, I want to be a king."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "king"?
Common synonyms include: rex, ace, anointed king, atheling, banker, baron.
How do you use "king" in a sentence?
When I grow up, I want to be a king.
How do you pronounce "king"?
Pronounced /kɪŋ/.
Etymology
From Middle English king, kyng, from Old English cyng, cyning (“king”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuning, from Proto-Germanic *kuningaz, *kunungaz (“king”), equivalent to kin + -ing. Doublet of cyning and knez. Cognate with Scots king, keeng (“king”), North Frisian kining, köning (“king”), Saterland Frisian Kening (“king”), West Frisian kening (“king”), Dutch koning (“king”), Low German Koning, Köning (“king”), German König (“king”), Danish konge (“king”), Swedish konung, kung (“king”), Norwegian konge (“king”), Icelandic konungur, kóngur (“king”), Polish ksiądz (“priest”), Russian князь (knjazʹ, “prince”), Old Church Slavonic кънѧѕь (kŭnędzĭ), Romanian chinez, Finnish kuningas (“king”), Estonian kuningas, Ingrian kunigas, Karelian kuninkas, Livvi kuńingas, Ludian kuńingas, Veps kuningaz, Võro kuning and Votic kunikaz. Eclipsed non-native Middle English roy (“king”) (Early Modern English roy), borrowed from Old French roi, rei, rai (“king”). The verb is inherited from Middle English kingen, kyngen (“to perform the duties of a king”), itself from the noun.