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honcho

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A person who is in charge of a group or activity.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hawnchoh

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɔntʃoʊ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. informal

    Boss, leader.

verb

  1. transitiveinformalcanadaus

    To lead or manage.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

head honchochief honchobig honchotop honchocorporate honchohigh honchosome honcho

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • gaffer

    The leader of a group or team, such as a boss, foreman, coach, or publican.

  • boss

    A leader, the head of an organized group or team.

  • chief

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

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • head honchonounCompound term

    An important influential person.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: boss or leader

gafferInformal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.