chief

CEFRC1

/t͡ʃiːf/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The leader of a group or organization.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Most important or highest in rank.

Examples

  • The section chief made me work like a slave.

  • We talked to the company’s chief accountant.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Headship, the status of being a chief or leader.

  2. The top part of a shield or escutcheon; more specifically, an ordinary consisting of the upper part of the field cut off by a horizontal line, generally occupying the top third.

  3. The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group.

More examples

In context

  • You don't have proper dignity as chief of the section.

  • All firefighters report to the fire chief.

  • Negligence was the chief cause of the disaster.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The tribal blank wore a feathered headdress during the ceremony.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Middle English chef English chief Inherited from Middle English chef, borrowed from Old French chief, from Vulgar Latin capus, from Latin caput, from Proto-Italic *kaput, from Proto-Indo-European *káput, from *kap-. Doublet of cape (“point of land”), capo, caput, and chef through Latin (possibly also related to cape (“sleeveless garment”) and cap (“head covering”) from Latin cappa); doublet of head and Howth through Proto-Indo-European.