noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A person who carries a torch (flaming brand).
2. 2
   a leader in a campaign or movement wordnet
3. 3
   The leader of a campaign, or one who gives inspiration to others. broadly
4. 4
   One who carries on a movement or organization from someone else. figuratively

   "The Roman Empire could be considered the torchbearer of Ancient Greek knowledge and wisdom."

Synonyms

All synonyms

bell cowbell marebellwetherborn leadercharismatic leaderchoirmaster

Example

More examples

"The Roman Empire could be considered the torchbearer of Ancient Greek knowledge and wisdom."

Etymology

From torch + bearer.

Related phrases

Olympic torchbearer

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.