Meaning & use
honcho
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Meanings
nouncountableinformalhumorous
The person in charge of a group or a project, the boss.
Grammar: Informal, often humorous: the head honcho.
Patterns
- the head honcho
- a honcho at somewhere
Ask the head honcho if we can leave early.
The company's top honchos met on Monday.
He's the honcho of the whole department.
nouncountableinformal
Someone who is important or powerful in a particular field.
Grammar: Often with a field word before it: a studio honcho.
Patterns
- a media honcho
- a studio honcho
A Hollywood honcho signed the deal.
Several tech honchos attended the conference.
The club's big honchos did not respond.
Word forms
| plural | honchos |
|---|
Common combinations
- head honcho
- The head honcho approved the plan.
- top honcho
- A top honcho flew in for the meeting.
- big honcho
- The big honcho never shows up before ten.
- studio honcho
- A studio honcho called the actor.
- media honcho
- The media honcho bought another newspaper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- boss
- Boss is neutral and common, while honcho is jokey.
- bigwig
- Bigwig stresses importance and rank, often with a mocking tone.
- head
- Head is neutral and formal enough for any workplace.
- top dog
- Top dog stresses winning the top position in a competition.
Opposites
Word family
- head honcho noun
- the person in overall charge
- honchos noun
- plural of honcho
- honcho verb
- to be in charge of something, informally
Commonly confused: honcho or poncho?
honcho vs poncho
A poncho is a cloak-like garment. It sounds similar but has no link to leadership.
Practice
Who is the 'head honcho' of a business?
Choose one answer.
Head honcho is an informal term for the leader. The other options describe people who do not run the business.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “honcho”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.