leader

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. guide, bellwether; director, conductor; head, commander, chief. See authority, music, precedence.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A guide]

Syn. conductor, lead, pilot; see guide 1 .

2. [One who provides leadership]

Syn. general, commander, pacesetter, director, floor leader, manager, head, officer, captain, master, chieftain, headman, governor, ruler, Führer (German), duce (Italian), caudillo (Spanish), vozhd (Russian), executor, boss, boss man*, brains*; see also administration 2 , administrator , chief 1 .

3. [One who directs a musical group]

Syn. conductor, director, choir leader, bandleader, impresario, Kappelmeister, orchestra leader, maestro, manager, baton*, stick waver*; see also musician .

4. [An article sold to attract trade]

Syn. special, bargain, introduction, novelty; see commodity .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

head, chief, commander, director, boss, supervisor, manager, captain, maestro, ruler, general, governor, dean, *biggest toad in the puddle, *big cheese, bellwether, pacesetter, pioneer, trailblazer, ground-breaker, vanguard. ''A man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it.''—Harry S. Truman. ''The wave pushed ahead by the ship. —Leon Tolstoy.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Something or someone that shows the way: conductor, director, escort, guide, lead, pilot, shepherd, usher. See SHOW. 2. A leading contestant: front-runner, number one. See PRECEDE. 3. One who is highest in rank or authority: boss, chief, chieftain, director, head, headman, hierarch, master. Slang: hon-cho. Idiom: cock of the walk. See OVER. 4. A professional politician who controls a party or political machine: boss, chief. See OVER. 5. An important, influential person: character, dignitary, eminence, lion, nabob, notability, notable, personage. Informal: big-timer, heavyweight, somebody, someone, VIP. Slang: big shot, big wheel, bigwig, muckamuck. See IMPORTANT. 6. Chiefly British. A prominent article in a periodical: feature, lead. See WORDS.