as in leader
the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells people and especially workers what to do
as headman at the newspaper 20 years ago, he hired the then-promising young reporter who won this year's Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of headman
The New York Giants were the first team to have a head coach non-vacancy, with former Baltimore Ravens headman John Harbaugh taking his services to the Big Apple.
—
Jim Reineking, USA Today, 16 Jan. 2026
The child’s uncle, Salim Güran — the village headman — had been arrested earlier in the probe, per Hürriyet Daily News.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025
For whatever reason, contract talks fell through leaving the NFL’s most prestigious franchise without a headman to begin their offseason.
—Kambui Bomani, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Jon Merrill came on for Bogosian and got caught flat-footed when Manson hit a headman pass to the blue line for O’Connor.
—Michael Russo, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for headman
Jim Reineking, USA Today, 16 Jan. 2026
The child’s uncle, Salim Güran — the village headman — had been arrested earlier in the probe, per Hürriyet Daily News.
—Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025
For whatever reason, contract talks fell through leaving the NFL’s most prestigious franchise without a headman to begin their offseason.
—Kambui Bomani, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
Jon Merrill came on for Bogosian and got caught flat-footed when Manson hit a headman pass to the blue line for O’Connor.
—Michael Russo, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for headman
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headman
Noun
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The crowd includes top business leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook and NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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Senior defender Peyton Johnson, Elizabeth’s older sister, is Oswego’s other team leader.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Mentorship opens unexpected doors The shop foreman at Sam Pack encouraged him to take advantage of industry certification opportunities at Dallas College while also pursuing a degree.—
Robbie Owens,
CBS News,
24 Apr. 2026
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Chavez, who worked as a construction foreman at the lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico, disappeared in May 2025.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Menin has supported Wilson, Bottcher’s former chief of staff, who had his ex-boss’s blessing in the race.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
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On behalf of everyone at Disney, on behalf of [new CEO] Josh [D’Amaro] and [Disney Entertainment, Studios, chairman] Alan Bergman and [FX boss] John Landgraf and Debra OConnell, our new head of Disney Entertainment Television.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Raice currently servs as deputy bureau chief for the Middle East and North Africa for the Journal and is based in Israel.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2026
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The royal couple will meet with the former Vogue editor-in-chief and businesswoman in New York City at a reception celebrating the work of his charity, The King’s Trust.—
Allison DeGrushe,
StyleCaster,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Del Toro and Spenny, who also came up to the varsity as freshmen, are co-captains along with Marzullo.—
Rick Armstrong,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
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The Kings’ lone goal came from Artemi Panarin while captain Gabriel Landeskog had the other Colorado goal.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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This new iteration was partly handled by Room40 label boss Lawrence English, who reconstructed the original master tapes and blended them with recent performances by Lockwood and Vanessa Tomlinson, who plays the gong.—
Joshua Minsoo Kim,
Pitchfork,
28 Apr. 2026
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Leaders of the gardens have been undergoing a master planning effort for more than a year in an effort to accommodate visitation of the botanical garden doubling to more than 300,000 people annually over the past decade.—
Ryan Gillespie,
The Orlando Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Mojtaba Khamenei is probably alive, but Vahidi, who is head of -- the commander of the IRGC is probably calling the shots.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Apr. 2026
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In past years, the association president has been followed by the commander-in-chief, and then a headliner, usually a comedian who roasts everyone in the room.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Junior Caminero singled, and manager Kevin Cash took somewhat of a gamble by taking out his top slugger to Richie Palacios could pinch run.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
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Reds manager Terry Francona has appreciated his hitters’ early-game discipline.—
Zack Meisel,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Headman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headman. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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