chairperson

noun

chair·​per·​son ˈcher-ˌpər-sᵊn 

plural chairpersons

1

: the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or event

2

: the administrative officer of a department of instruction (as in a college)

Synonyms

• chair
• chairman
• moderator
• president
• presider
• prolocutor
• speaker

Examples of chairperson in a Sentence

A new chairperson for the committee has not yet been appointed.

the chairperson will determine the order in which people will speak

Recent Examples on the Web

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced Saturday afternoon that its members have elected Ken Martin as its new chairperson. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 1 Feb. 2025

From left, Indian tech billionaire Azim Premji, Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and chairperson of Emerson Collective, and Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH. —Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 31 Jan. 2025

Kelly, Beshear, Lujan Grisham and Whitmer are among the 448 DNC members who can vote for chairperson next week on Feb. 1. —Brittany Shepherd, ABC News, 23 Jan. 2025

Driving the news: The election of two new Republican supervisors who took office Jan. 2 gave them the votes for McCoy to become chairperson of the five-person board. —Jason Clayworth, Axios, 16 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1899, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

chairperson

noun

chair·​per·​son -ˌpər-sən 

: chair sense 2c