1
: accorded highest rank or office
chief librarian
the company's chief executive
2
: of greatest importance or influence
the chief reasons
their chief accomplishment
1
: the upper part of a heraldic field
2
: the head of a body of persons or an organization : leader
chief of police
3
: the principal or most valuable part
would never rest till she had read the chief of the letter to him—
Jane Austen
Jane AustenSynonyms
Examples of chief in a Sentence
Adjective
the chief engineer on the project
Her job is their chief source of income.
He has many concerns, chief among them his health.
Noun
the chief of the estate was left to the eldest son
our chief is out on a business trip right now
Recent Examples on the WebQuyen Do, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Morawski joined the School District in 2017 as its chief operations officer.
—Nwa Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 19 Apr. 2024
Mind the gap Unethical use of AI could stymie its funding and development, reckons Paula Goldman, chief ethical and humane use officer at Salesforce.
—Bynick Rockel, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
The two top candidates, interior minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, are fervent and at times aggressive proponents of Hindu nationalism.
—Michael Kugelman, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
That could change this time around, said Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management.
—Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
The executives Trump Media’s chief financial officer, Phillip Juhan, received 490,000 shares, worth $19.8 million.
—Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
Hard partying might be fine on a fishing trip or a golf outing, said Caitlin Crunk, Mammoth Hospital’s chief nursing officer.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2024
But craft beer production likely declined in 2023, the association's chief economist Bart Watson said in a year-end presentation.
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Byprarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 9 Apr. 2024
Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle, a chief in the district attorney's office's Child Fatality Section, prosecuted Hooey and said child abusers often work to hide signs of abuse by keeping children away from other adults or dressing them to cover the injuries.
—Landon Mion, Fox News, 8 Apr. 2024
The visit, her second to China in nine months as treasury chief, is aimed at addressing escalating trade disputes between the world’s largest economies as the two sides try to stabilize relations following a summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last November.
—Nectar Gan, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
The judge also sentenced Mr. Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen H. Weisselberg, to five months at the Rikers Island jail complex.
—William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024
The unit, founded in 2012, was hard hit by former CNN chief Chris Licht’s budget-cutting spree during his short tenure at the network.
—Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Last year, senior prosecutor Jung Soon-shin’s appointment as chief of the National Office of Investigation was canceled by President Yoon Suk-yeol after reports emerged that Jung had defended his son when the latter was accused of verbally harassing a high school classmate.
—Koh Ewe, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Airline chiefs have been complaining about Boeing’s spate of safety and quality issues for the past few months.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 28 Mar. 2024
Goods that are already on the docks can still be moved by trucks, according to Ken Adamo, chief of analytics at DAT Solutions.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Now a Huntington Beach resident, Dinh joined his youngest son, Viet, former Fox Corp. chief legal officer and U.S. assistant attorney general, to watch the premiere episode.
—Quyen Do, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Morawski joined the School District in 2017 as its chief operations officer.
—Nwa Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com, 19 Apr. 2024
Mind the gap Unethical use of AI could stymie its funding and development, reckons Paula Goldman, chief ethical and humane use officer at Salesforce.
—Bynick Rockel, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024
The two top candidates, interior minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, are fervent and at times aggressive proponents of Hindu nationalism.
—Michael Kugelman, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
That could change this time around, said Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer of UBS Global Wealth Management.
—Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024
The executives Trump Media’s chief financial officer, Phillip Juhan, received 490,000 shares, worth $19.8 million.
—Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024
Hard partying might be fine on a fishing trip or a golf outing, said Caitlin Crunk, Mammoth Hospital’s chief nursing officer.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2024
But craft beer production likely declined in 2023, the association's chief economist Bart Watson said in a year-end presentation.
—Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Noun
With British companies looking for greener pastures in the U.S., top chiefs flagging low pay, and public listings feeling tedious, the post-Brexit U.K. has seen more discouraging news in the business realm than anticipated.
—Byprarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 9 Apr. 2024
Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle, a chief in the district attorney's office's Child Fatality Section, prosecuted Hooey and said child abusers often work to hide signs of abuse by keeping children away from other adults or dressing them to cover the injuries.
—Landon Mion, Fox News, 8 Apr. 2024
The visit, her second to China in nine months as treasury chief, is aimed at addressing escalating trade disputes between the world’s largest economies as the two sides try to stabilize relations following a summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last November.
—Nectar Gan, CNN, 8 Apr. 2024
The judge also sentenced Mr. Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen H. Weisselberg, to five months at the Rikers Island jail complex.
—William K. Rashbaum, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024
The unit, founded in 2012, was hard hit by former CNN chief Chris Licht’s budget-cutting spree during his short tenure at the network.
—Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Last year, senior prosecutor Jung Soon-shin’s appointment as chief of the National Office of Investigation was canceled by President Yoon Suk-yeol after reports emerged that Jung had defended his son when the latter was accused of verbally harassing a high school classmate.
—Koh Ewe, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Airline chiefs have been complaining about Boeing’s spate of safety and quality issues for the past few months.
—Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 28 Mar. 2024
Goods that are already on the docks can still be moved by trucks, according to Ken Adamo, chief of analytics at DAT Solutions.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chief.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near chief
Cite this Entry
“Chief.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chief. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
chief
2 of 2 noun
: the head of a group : leader
chief of police
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