1
as in heavyweight
one of high position or importance within a group
a police sting that nabbed several kingpins of the city's drug trade
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2
as in leader
the person (as an employer or supervisor) who tells people and especially workers what to do
finally nailed the mob kingpin who had been controlling all the gambling rackets in the city
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kingpin
Then, in 2005, a kingpin named Edgar Valdez Villarreal (a.k.a.
—
Antón Barba-Kay, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2025
Franks, after all, gave Gibbs the Hernandez file, allowing Gibbs to track the kingpin down and exact justice for his late wife and daughter.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
The book is about a Mexican bookseller who is forced to flee as an undocumented immigrant to the United States, along with her son, after her journalist husband exposes a local drug kingpin.
—Kris Slugg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 May 2025
For years, Mexican police, sometimes with U.S. assistance, have been destroying drug labs and taking out kingpins — to no apparent effect on cross-border smuggling.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for kingpin
Antón Barba-Kay, The Atlantic, 26 Apr. 2025
Franks, after all, gave Gibbs the Hernandez file, allowing Gibbs to track the kingpin down and exact justice for his late wife and daughter.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2025
The book is about a Mexican bookseller who is forced to flee as an undocumented immigrant to the United States, along with her son, after her journalist husband exposes a local drug kingpin.
—Kris Slugg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 May 2025
For years, Mexican police, sometimes with U.S. assistance, have been destroying drug labs and taking out kingpins — to no apparent effect on cross-border smuggling.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for kingpin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kingpin
Noun
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Listen to this article Chicago police said seven teens were wounded in an overnight shooting at a large gathering in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood after a St. Sabina graduation party, drawing an angry statement from the church’s longtime leader, Father Michael Pfleger.—
Deanese Williams-Harris,
Chicago Tribune,
1 June 2025
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Afraid conditions would only worsen, leaders announced in May 2024 their plans to disassemble the chapel, a national historic landmark and popular wedding venue.—
Rebecca Ellis,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2025
Noun
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Gabriel Byrne’s new heavy, the Chancellor, hisses to Castañeda’s doomed daddy as Eve watches in horror.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
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At the same time, more of Richie's heavies arrive at the safe house.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
1 June 2025
Noun
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In a Reddit post, the woman's employee exposed her boss's shortcomings by simply following instructions.—
Maria Morava,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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Gavi has no doubts about Luis Enrique’s standing in the game, and is also eternally grateful to his former national team boss.—
Tom Sanderson,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
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All season long, New York has struggled to contain stretch bigs.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
21 May 2025
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In his absence, Kornet dominated the paint, finally tilting the floor back toward the Celtics when the Knicks deployed two bigs; a lineup that had been dogging Boston in this series.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Joel, meanwhile, has become Jackson’s construction foreman, which puts him at odds with his sister-in-law, Maria (Rutina Wesley).—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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The core idea of this story is that the justice system defaults repeatedly to favoring the voices of authority: the police (who didn’t investigate thoroughly), the foreman (who took the word of the police), and so on.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
Noun
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This group includes finance mogul Stephen Smith, car dealership billionaire Norman Braman, industrial business magnate Harsh Goenka, homebuilder Patrick Neal and five anonymous respondents.—
Phoebe Liu,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
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Media magnate Ted Turner owns more than a dozen ranches across half a dozen states; retired golfer Greg Norman has an almost 12,000-acre game ranch in Colorado‘s White River Valley; and Kanye West has two Montana ranches totaling more than 10,000 acres.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
3 June 2025
Noun
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Another master’s artistry is on display and open to tours at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, located about two miles east of the museum on the other side of the park.—
David Allan,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
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Skills build on themselves, so children who don’t master kindergarten phonics or counting could remain behind in future grades.—
Claire Cain Miller,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
Noun
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Apart from the sale of primary shares, Maynilad Water Holding—which counts Metro Pacific, tycoon Isidro Consunji’s DMCI Holdings and Japan’s Marubeni Corp. among its shareholders—will sell 354.7 million shares at the IPO price, raising an additional 7.1 billion pesos in a secondary offering.—
Ian Sayson,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
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Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kingpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kingpin. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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