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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Recent Examples of kingpin
Instead, the often low-rung crews are detained for interrogation, in the hope of shedding light on shady drug kingpins, gang operations and distribution networks.
—
Simon Owen , Greg Palkot, FOXNews.com, 10 Dec. 2025
The documentary claims that Diddy paid drug kingpin Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis to have Shakur killed in 1996.
—Vivian Kwarm, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
After spending a decade and a half in the brains of a meth kingpin and a slimeball attorney, Gilligan wanted his next protagonist to be a force for good.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 7 Nov. 2025
The two Californians’ parallel careers launched in San Francisco nearly three decades ago with the city’s storied political kingpin, Willie Brown, mentoring both.
—Dan Walters, Oc Register, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kingpin
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kingpin
Noun
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Zhao's feature also counts Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes as producers.—
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Banks, transportation stocks, hotels and small-caps are cooking, helping to offset the cooling-off in several of the tech heavyweights that had large1ly led the S & P’s three-year, 80% advance.—
Noun
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The Chiefs’ announcement has energized Missouri leaders around keeping the Royals.—
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Drivers will no longer be able to travel straight through the corridor, though county leaders say local access will remain available for people who live or work in the area.—
Noun
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The Dark Ages gave us an extremely metal prequel that — while a bit too lore and cutscene-heavy — presented more surprising tricks and gameplay refreshes to keep the long-running FPS series alive and kicking butt.—
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However, a combination of tariffs, inflation and narrow GDP growth kept the tech-heavy S & P 500 in the lead over the Russell 2000.—
Noun
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The fascination with boss-employee relationships will probably never fade.—
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Another individual familiar with events said Turness, the boss of BBC News, has repeatedly made efforts to get the corporation to respond to Prescott’s memo.—
Noun
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The Celtics pounded the paint with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza, a pair of bruising bigs who also can force the issue from 3-point range despite their lumbering dispositions.—
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Perhaps names like Zach Ehrhard or James Tibbs III could see time in the bigs.—
Noun
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According to the foreman, the jury was leaning toward assigning 55% blame to the Angels and assigning Skaggs with the least amount, at 15%.—
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Juan Antonio Nevarez-Porras, 40, a foreman for Renegade Construction since 2016, was traveling with his 16-year-old son, Jonathan, to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit family and attend the 100th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry, his family said.—
Noun
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Singer island is so named after Paris Singer, a descendant of the Singer Sewing Machine magnate, who began developing the Palm Beach coastline into a national luxury destination in the 1920s.—
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O’Leary isn’t the only nonprofessional in Marty Supreme’s sprawling cast, which includes rapper Tyler the Creator, real-life table-tennis champion Koto Kawaguchi, filmmaker Abel Ferrara, and supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis.—
Noun
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Residents in a Stockton zip code have reported their mail is being stolen and worry someone may have access to the master postal key.—
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She was allowed to study there in her fifth year of college basketball because CU’s Boulder campus does not offer a master’s in criminal justice.—
Cite this Entry
“Kingpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kingpin. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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