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kingpins

noun

plural of kingpin
1
as in heavyweights
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in leaders
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of kingpins Sunday treats us to Chalk It Up regulars and bouncing local rock kingpins the Brodys, flanked by Asesinos, Rose Lyon, Sol Peligro and Leaping Blennies. — Aaron Davis, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026 Ruthless, uncompromising, and increasingly feared, Tony rises from low-level criminal to one of Miami’s most powerful cocaine kingpins. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Sep. 2026 The track, which calls to mind the Killers and other kingpins of synth-rock, is also a preview of New Translations’ forthcoming album, the follow-up to their 2025 debut Vacation. — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026 The children of cartel kingpins enrolled in the city’s top prep schools. — Kevin Sieff, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026 Their videos work as a modern take on the narcocorridos – ballads about the trafficking underworld that drug kingpins used to praise themselves and communicate with each other, said security expert Alexei Chévez. — Rey Rodríguez, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026 The life-and-death stakes were raised when the former high school series jumped five years to show a now-young adult Rue becoming a drug mule and working for rival kingpins (Martha Kelly’s Laurie also took her own life in the finale). — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 1 June 2026 The notorious hotspot, now a luxury property, was a fave hangout of violent kingpins, hard-living celebs, dirty cops and crooked politicians. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 22 May 2026 New concepts abound as TV-news kingpins work to meet younger viewers in new environments. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 19 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kingpins
  1. heavyweights
  2. leaders
  3. bigs
  4. bosses
  5. heavies
  6. foremen
  7. wheels
  8. masters
Noun
  • The partnership follows a series of major tie-ups over the past year with other finance heavyweights, including Goldman Sachs and Brookfield.
    — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • His title defense begins Wednesday against Bear 164, Bucky, one of the river's emerging heavyweights.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of heavyweights
Noun
  • Her argument pushes against a much louder story from Silicon Valley, where AI leaders keep warning that white-collar work is about to be automated.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Corporate leaders go undercover within their own organizations to gain firsthand insight into their workforce and operations.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of leaders
Noun
  • Unfortunately, the less said about China’s guards, the better; their main job is to get the ball past half court without turning it over and then feed the bigs.
    — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • That is a remarkable incentive, if not catnip, to send Condon to the bigs.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of bigs
Noun
  • Office life has changed dramatically in the years since the pandemic, and many of us are still adjusting to the reality of being back in the room with our colleagues and bosses.
    — Morgan Sullivan, Glamour, 29 Sep. 2026
  • So the Nineties theme looked like a way to remind the new corporate bosses of why MTV used to rule as the musical epicenter of pop culture.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of bosses
Noun
  • Mehring’s characters include petty criminals, unscrupulous lawyers, Galician Jews, Freikorps heavies, local and international businessmen, Prussian generals, and the everyday citizens inhabiting the streets of Berlin’s old and rather dingy center.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The album also features cameos by heavies from Gojira, Lamb of God, Queens of the Stone Age, and Clutch.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of heavies
Noun
  • Customers were very important; workers, foremen.
    — Michael Kilian, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
  • For years after that, TCU alums who had served as Ranch Week foremen or queen would proudly include it on resumes, in professional biographies or when running for office.
    — Matt Leclercq, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2025
Definition of foremen
Noun
  • Link launched on July 3 but quickly ran into electronic problems that took out two of the three reaction wheels needed to turn the spacecraft.
    — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The Sooners were driving to answer the score when the wheels started coming off for their offense on a second-and-goal at the Georgia 4.
    — Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of wheels
Noun
  • Since mega masters hearings began in May, immigration data researchers found that the number of people ordered deported when not showing up for a hearing has skyrocketed.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The title refers not only to the horror film my protagonist, Maya, is trying to make, but also to the city’s new masters and to those living in a zombified state of willful ignorance.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of masters

Browse Nearby Words

kingpin
kingpins
kings
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Cite this Entry

“Kingpins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kingpins. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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