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Definition of leading light
: a prominent and influential member (as of a community or church)
Examples of leading light in a Sentence
He is one of the leading lights of the labor movement.
Recent Examples on the Web But why didn’t these leading lights raise the alarm about Weinstein sooner?
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Madeleine Kearns, National Review, "Harvey Weinstein: Hollywood’s Shield?," 3 Mar. 2020 Soccer star Alex Morgan, a leading light of the Women's World Cup this summer, is expecting her first child.
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Patrick Smith, NBC News, "Top Pentagon Ukraine official's impeachment evidence delayed by GOP protest: Read the Morning Rundown," 24 Oct. 2019 In memoriam: Katherine Johnson, the leading light of a cadre of black female mathematicians in the early space program who performed NASA’s most delicate calculations, including for the moon landing, died at 101 in Virginia.
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Penn Bullock, New York Times, "Coronavirus, Harvey Weinstein, Brexit: Your Tuesday Briefing," 25 Feb. 2020 Scoring goals hasn't been too much of an issue, though, with leading light Robert Lewandowski continuing to fire up front; the Pole already on seven strikes for the season.
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SI.com, "Bayern Munich vs FC Koln Preview: Where to Watch, Live Stream, Kick Off Time & Team News," 20 Sep. 2019 Many leading lights of midcentury modernism were involved in the project as design consultants or artists.
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Ellen Piligian, Detroit Free Press, "Poetry, a cookbook and reflections on Detroit history make Michigan Notable Books list," 19 Jan. 2020 The Death of DJ Rashad (2014) DJ Rashad was the leading light of Chicago's growing footwork scene in the first half of the '10s, receiving a rare level of national recognition for his frenetic, innovative and impressively resonant bangers.
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Billboard Staff, Billboard, "The Top 100 Moments of the EDM Decade," 17 Dec. 2019 Lisa Jackson was the leading light in the field, Vitale said.
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Cassie Werber, Quartz at Work, "Can Apple keep growing without extracting anything more from the earth?," 12 Dec. 2019 The cast performs splendidly, particularly the younger actors; at moments, being in the audience feels like watching the next generation of Portland theater’s leading lights.
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oregonlive, "‘Matilda the Musical’ review: Talented cast handles tough story adeptly," 11 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leading light.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for leading light
The first known use of leading light was in 1655
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