What does "leader" mean?
Any person who leads or directs.
Leader
/ˈli.dɚ/ name, noun
name, noun ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any person who leads or directs.
- Grammar: leader is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: a per se, academic community leaders, ace, activist.
- Useful contrasts: inferior, supporting role, acolyte.
- Usage evidence: Even people who don't believe in the Catholic church venerate the Pope as a symbolic leader.
How to use "leader"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "leader" 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 "leader" 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 "leader" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "leader" 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 "leader" is acting as name, noun 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 "a per se" 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 "leader", 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 Any person who leads or directs.
"In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance."
- 2 a featured article of merchandise sold at a loss in order to draw customers wordnet
- 3 Any person who leads or directs.; One who goes first.
"Follow the leader."
- 4 a person who rules or guides or inspires others wordnet
- 5 Any person who leads or directs.; One having authority to direct.
"We elected her team leader."
Show 21 more definitions
- 6 Any person who leads or directs.; One who leads a political party or group of elected party members; sometimes used in titles.
"Leader of the House of Commons"
- 7 Any person who leads or directs.; A person or organization that leads in a certain field in terms of excellence, success, etc.
"The company is the leader in home remodeling in the county."
- 8 Any person who leads or directs.; A performer who leads a band, choir, or a section of an orchestra.
- 9 Any person who leads or directs.; The first violin in a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster. UK
- 10 An animal that leads.; The dominant animal in a pack of animals, such as wolves or lions.
"The gesture of licking and nipping a leader's muzzle is similar to the food-begging behavior of wolf pups and may be related to it."
- 11 An animal that leads.; An animal placed in advance of others, especially on a team of horse, oxen, or dogs.
"Still there are many passages in his [Donne's] writings, where it is plain that he forgot to pull in his leaders; and they gallop away with him at times over hill and dale, over ploughed land and waste."
- 12 An animal that leads.; Either of the two front horses of a team of four in front of a carriage.
"How proud felt Pierre: In fancy’s eye, he saw the horse-ghosts a-tandem in the van; “These are but wheelers”—cried young Pierre—“the leaders are the generations.”"
- 13 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A fast-growing terminal shoot of a woody plant.
"A strong central leader may result in essentially horizontal branches resembling a "telephone pole.""
- 14 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A pipe for conducting rain water from a roof to a cistern or to the ground.
- 15 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article; a lead story. UK
- 16 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A section of line between the main fishing line and the snell of a hook, intended to be more resistant to bites and harder for a fish to detect than the main fishing line.
- 17 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A piece of material at the beginning or end of a reel or roll to allow the material to be threaded or fed onto something, as a reel of film onto a projector or a roll of paper onto a rotary printing press.
"If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool. Do not rewind so much that the leader disappears into the cassette."
- 18 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; An intertitle. dated
"The leader only runs three seconds, but it acts like a drop curtain in a theater."
- 19 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A loss leader or a popular product sold at a normal price.
- 20 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A type having a dot or short row of dots upon its face.
- 21 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A row of dots, periods, or hyphens, used in tables of contents, etc., to lead the eye across a space to the right word or number. in-plural
- 22 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A net for leading fish into a pound, weir, etc.
"when two wheels geer together, the one which communicates the motion to the other is called the driver or leader; and the wheel impelled is the follower"
- 23 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A branch or small vein, not important in itself, but indicating the proximity of a better one.
- 24 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; A block of hard wood pierced with suitable holes for leading ropes in their proper places.
- 25 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The drive wheel in any kind of machinery.
- 26 Someone or something that leads or conducts.; The path taken by electrons from a cloud to ground level, determining the shape of a bolt of lightning.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname originating as an occupation for a person who led a horse and cart. countable, uncountable
- 2 A river in north Canterbury, New Zealand, which joins the (Canterbury) Waiau. countable, uncountable
- 3 A town in the Rural Municipality of Happyland No. 231, western Saskatchewan, Canada, originally named Prussia. countable, uncountable
- 4 A populated place in Adams County, Colorado, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Even people who don't believe in the Catholic church venerate the Pope as a symbolic leader."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "leader"?
Common synonyms include: a per se, academic community leaders, ace, activist, administrator, advancer role.
How do you use "leader" in a sentence?
Even people who don't believe in the Catholic church venerate the Pope as a symbolic leader.
How do you pronounce "leader"?
Pronounced /ˈli.dɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).
Etymology 2
English surname, both from the noun leader and an occupational use of lead (“heavy metal”).