bigwig

Definition

A person of importance in a group or organization.

Etymology

First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.

Example Sentences

• "The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today."
• "[…] more innocently, and no doubt profitably, than if he had dined at a big-wig's board or bemused himself with smoke and beer among his brethren of the pen."
• "Before her hay-day, she attended many derbys under her dad's celebrity where she'd hobnob with the bigwigs in Millionaire's Row."