kingpin

1 one of high position or importance within a group <a police sting that nabbed several kingpins of the city's drug trade> Synonyms big, big boy, big cheese, bigfoot, biggie, big gun, big leaguer, big-timer, big wheel, bigwig, fat cat, heavy, heavy hitter, heavyweight, high-muck-a-muck (or high-muckety-muck), honcho, kahuna, kingfish, big shot, major leaguer, muckety-muck (also muck-a-muck or mucky-muck), nabob, nawab, nibs, nob [chiefly British], pooh-bah (also poo-bah), wheelRelated Words baron, czar (also tsar or tzar), king, lion, magnate, mogul, prince, tycoon; VIPNear Antonyms inferior, subordinate, underling; mediocrity, obscurityAntonyms lightweight, nobody, nonentity, nothing, shrimp, twerp, whippersnapper, zero, zilch

2 the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells people and especially workers what to do <finally nailed the mob kingpin who had been controlling all the gambling rackets in the city> Synonyms boss man, captain, chief, foreman, head, headman, helmsman, honcho, jefe, boss, leader, master, taskmasterRelated Words directress, mistress; administrator, commander, director, executive, general, governor, hierarch, higher-up; leadman, manager, overseer, principal, skipper, standard-bearer, steward, straw boss, superintendent, superior, supervisor; dominator, lord, overlord, potentate, ruler, sovereign (also sovran); figurehead; slave driver; baron, czar (also tsar or tzar), king, magnate, mogul, president, prince; big cheese, big gun, bigwig, top dog, top gun; cohead, coleader; employer, gaffer [British], ganger [British]; micromanager; subchief, subdirectorNear Antonyms dependent, inferior, junior, secondary, subject, subordinate, underling