Figurehead

Quick meaning: Figurehead is a noun meaning (nautical) A carved figure on the prow of a sailing ship.

Meaning

(nautical) A carved figure on the prow of a sailing ship.

More Meanings

1. (figurative, by extension) Someone in a nominal position of leadership who has little to no actual power.
2. (nautical, slang, figurative, obsolete) A person's face.
3. (idiomatic, transitive, also intransitive) To lead (something) nominally and with little to no actual power.

Example Sentences

HATCHET. Bring up, I say, or I'll spoil your figurehead. [Lifting his cudgel]

Evidently he did not mean to be a mere figurehead, but to carry on the old tradition of Wilsthorpe's; and that was considered to be a good thing in itself and an augury for future prosperity.

Supporters of Wagenknecht, a controversial but prominent figurehead, are already hatching plans for a breakaway party to compete in the 2024 European elections, the German newspaper Taz reported this week.

Instead she played, largely impeccably, the part of a modern constitutional monarch, a symbolic figurehead with a right to be consulted and to advise and warn political leaders privately and to show herself publicly as a focus of national life, celebration and commemoration.

Word Forms

• figureheads
• figure-head
• figureheading
• figureheaded

Synonyms for figurehead

Depending on context, synonyms include front.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include front, flagship, lead, figure, leader, person.

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