Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A carved figure on the prow of a ship.
- noun A person given a position of nominal leadership but having no actual authority.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An ornamental figure, as a statue or bust, on the projecting part of the head of a ship, over the cutwater and immediately under the bowsprit.
- noun Figuratively, a person put forward to represent or to appear to act for others, without having any real authority or responsibility.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) The figure, statue, or bust, on the prow of a ship.
- noun A person who allows his name to be used to give standing to enterprises in which he has no responsible interest or duties; a nominal, but not real, head or chief.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A
carved figure on theprow of asailing ship . - noun by extension Someone in a
nominal position ofleadership who has noactual power ; afront orfront man .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person used as a cover for some questionable activity
- noun figure on the bow of some sailing vessels
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word figurehead.
Examples
-
The word "figurehead" ran in Poppaelia's mind but he did not voice it.
Web of the Romulans M. S. Murdock 1990
-
Good or evil, competent or inept, any leader or figurehead is welcome to offer assistance at this point.
Think Progress » Obama asks George W. Bush to assist Haiti relief efforts. 2010
-
Clinton, clearly more than a figurehead, is chairman, guiding spirit, and the big gun strategically deployed for publicity and persuasion.
-
Clinton, clearly more than a figurehead, is chairman, guiding spirit, and the big gun strategically deployed for publicity and persuasion.
-
The schooner was called Le Carcajou—the Wolverine—and her figurehead was a carving of the beast, mouth agape and fangs bared, claws ready to strike.
City of Glory Beverly Swerling 2007
-
The schooner was called Le Carcajou—the Wolverine—and her figurehead was a carving of the beast, mouth agape and fangs bared, claws ready to strike.
City of Glory Beverly Swerling 2007
-
The figurehead was a bull, with a flower on his brow and gilded horns.
The King Must Die Renault, Mary, 1905-1983 1958
-
Her stern was adorned with flowers, and in the arms of the figurehead was a large bouquet.
Christmas: Its Origin and Associations Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries William Francis Dawson
-
Experts say North Korea, hit by sanctions punishing it for its nuclear weapons programme, could adopt a collective leadership when Kim dies with his son identified as figurehead leader but real power held by a group of officials from the ruling Workers 'Party and the military.
-
In the event Kim Jong-il dies suddenly, his son, by then identified as figurehead leader, would be surrounded by close family confidantes who have been appointed to senior positions in the Workers 'Party and military in recent months.
reesetee commented on the word figurehead
Originally a nautical term describing the symbolic image at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer.
December 11, 2007
qroqqa commented on the word figurehead
This also means "leading figure" in a positive and potent sense in UK usage. Over half the ghits for "a * figurehead" are filled with positive terms such as 'key', 'strong', 'major', 'prominent', 'lynchpin'. Worldwide, however, the older usage strongly predominates, and figureheads are 'ceremonial', 'constitutional', 'toothless', 'compliant', 'token'. This is a remarkable turnaround in meaning: no on-line dictionary yet lists it, that I can find.
August 14, 2008