kingpin

noun

king·​pin ˈkiŋ-ˌpin 

1

: the chief person in a group or undertaking

2

: any of several bowling pins: such as

a

: headpin

b

: the pin that stands in the middle of a triangular arrangement of bowling pins

3

a

: kingbolt

b

: a pin connecting the two parts of a knuckle joint (as in an automobile steering linkage)

Synonyms

• big
• big boy
• big cheese
• big gun
• big leaguer
• big shot
• big wheel
• big-timer
• bigfoot
• biggie
• bigwig
• fat cat
• heavy
• heavy hitter
• heavyweight
• high-muck-a-muck
• high-muckety-muck
• honcho
• kahuna
• kingfish
• major leaguer
• muckety-muck
• muck-a-muck
• mucky-muck
• nabob
• nawab
• nibs
• nob [chiefly British]
• pooh-bah
• poo-bah
• wheel

Examples of kingpin in a Sentence

kingpins of the movie industry

a police sting that nabbed several kingpins of the city's drug trade

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s revealed early on that Alice is a whistleblower, leveraged by the Feds into feeding them information to build a corporate malfeasance case against the company run by arrogant business kingpin Daniel Bailey (Richard Roxburgh). —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024

The shocking information about Hamas kingpin Yahya Sinwar was revealed by Gen. Jack Keane, FOX News Channel senior strategic analyst and former U.S. army vice chief of staff, in an interview with Sky News Australia on Thursday. —Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 5 May 2024

From the beginning, the media portrayed Ross as a murderous drug kingpin presiding over a vast global cartel, and for the community on Silk Road, that simply didn’t add up. —Alex Winter, Rolling Stone, 2 May 2024

The sourest note is struck by one firmly xenophobic white male resident (Emmanuel Bonami) who’s convinced everyone else is a drug kingpin. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 Apr. 2024

There were hedge fund kingpins and Silicon Valley executives accused of personal or business misconduct. —David Enrich, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024

In a battle much more reminiscent of Succession than Fantasia, Disney’s kingpin Bob Iger turned back activist investors who attempted to wrest control of the company away from him on Wednesday in a dramatic shareholder vote. —Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024

Ready to get flipping? 'American Fiction': 'Erasure,' Percival Everett Percival Everett, in the world of writers' writers, is a kingpin. —Scott Hocker, theweek, 31 Jan. 2024

The 75-year-old French kingpin Arnault, who oversees fashion empire LVMH with a net worth of $233 billion, led the record-breaking pack of 2,781 billionaires—more than ever before. —Byeleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1773, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

kingpin

noun

king·​pin ˈkiŋ-ˌpin 

1

: a pin that stands in the middle of a triangular arrangement of bowling pins

also : headpin

2

: the chief person in a group or undertaking