Synonyms
- big
- big boy
- big cheese
- big gun
- big leaguer
- big shot
- big wheel
- big-timer
- bigfoot
- biggie
- bigwig
- fat cat
- heavy
- heavy hitter
- heavyweight
- high-muck-a-muck
- high-muckety-muck
- honcho
- kahuna
- kingfish
- major leaguer
- muckety-muck
- muck-a-muck
- mucky-muck
- nabob
- nawab
- nibs
- nob [chiefly British]
- pooh-bah
- poo-bah
- wheel
Examples of kingpin in a Sentence
kingpins of the movie industry
a police sting that nabbed several kingpins of the city's drug trade
Recent Examples on the Web
The sourest note is struck by one firmly xenophobic white male resident (Emmanuel Bonami) who’s convinced everyone else is a drug kingpin.
—
Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024
There were hedge fund kingpins and Silicon Valley executives accused of personal or business misconduct.
—David Enrich, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
In a battle much more reminiscent of Succession than Fantasia, Disney’s kingpin Bob Iger turned back activist investors who attempted to wrest control of the company away from him on Wednesday in a dramatic shareholder vote.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
Ready to get flipping? 'American Fiction': 'Erasure,' Percival Everett
Percival Everett, in the world of writers' writers, is a kingpin.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
The 75-year-old French kingpin Arnault, who oversees fashion empire LVMH with a net worth of $233 billion, led the record-breaking pack of 2,781 billionaires—more than ever before.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
Standing in for the druggy Mutiny Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., where the kingpin confabs take place, is the ballroom of the Queen Mary and an ‘80s-era hotel in the City of Industry.
—Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2024
After her split with Hunter, Rush was married to PR kingpin Cowan from 1959 to 1968 (their wedding ceremony took place at the Beverly Hills home of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) and to sculptor James Gruzalski from 1970 to 1973.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Mar. 2024
The emergency mandate also bars inmates from establishing any contact with individuals outside the prison, including lawyers, relatives, or associates, thereby preventing kingpins from continuing to run their groups from behind bars.
—Gustavo Flores-Macías, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024
There were hedge fund kingpins and Silicon Valley executives accused of personal or business misconduct.
—David Enrich, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
In a battle much more reminiscent of Succession than Fantasia, Disney’s kingpin Bob Iger turned back activist investors who attempted to wrest control of the company away from him on Wednesday in a dramatic shareholder vote.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
Ready to get flipping? 'American Fiction': 'Erasure,' Percival Everett
Percival Everett, in the world of writers' writers, is a kingpin.
—Scott Hocker, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024
The 75-year-old French kingpin Arnault, who oversees fashion empire LVMH with a net worth of $233 billion, led the record-breaking pack of 2,781 billionaires—more than ever before.
—Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
Standing in for the druggy Mutiny Hotel in Coral Gables, Fla., where the kingpin confabs take place, is the ballroom of the Queen Mary and an ‘80s-era hotel in the City of Industry.
—Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2024
After her split with Hunter, Rush was married to PR kingpin Cowan from 1959 to 1968 (their wedding ceremony took place at the Beverly Hills home of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) and to sculptor James Gruzalski from 1970 to 1973.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Mar. 2024
The emergency mandate also bars inmates from establishing any contact with individuals outside the prison, including lawyers, relatives, or associates, thereby preventing kingpins from continuing to run their groups from behind bars.
—Gustavo Flores-Macías, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kingpin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Kingpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kingpin. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
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