chairperson

noun

chair·​per·​son ˈcher-ˌpər-sᵊn 

plural chairpersons or chairpeople

1

: the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or event

2

: the administrative officer of a department of instruction (as in a college)

Synonyms of chairperson

• chairman
• president
• moderator
• presider

Examples of chairperson in a Sentence

A new chairperson for the committee has not yet been appointed.

the chairperson will determine the order in which people will speak

Recent Examples on the Web

Chris Tissue, who is chief operating officer at credit union consulting firm CUCollaborate, will be the board’s chairperson. —Jeff Kauflin, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026

Previously, Pattain worked as law clerk to Referee Jenese Larmouth in Ramsey County Family Court, and is a commissioner and vice chairperson of the Sustainability Commission for the City of Minnetonka. —Pioneer Press, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2026

Many political allies who backed her successful bid for speaker ended up securing some of the chamber’s most prominent committee chairperson posts, including Education, Public Safety and Transportation, as first reported by the Daily News late Wednesday. —Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 15 Jan. 2026

Hartford Board of Education chairperson Shonta Browdy issued a statement Monday stating that Hartford Public Schools and the Board of Education were not involved with the decision to launch the survey on Remesh as announced by Arulampalam. —Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for chairperson

• layperson
• salesperson
• businessperson
• person
• worsen

Kids Definition

chairperson

noun

chair·​per·​son -ˌpər-sən 

: chair sense 2c