Figurehead

/ˈfɪgjərˌhɛd/

/ˈfɪgjəhɛd/

IPA guide

Other forms: figureheads

A figurehead is someone who appears to be in charge, but who really holds very little influence. In many countries today, kings and queens are merely figureheads.

A ceremonial president or king — one installed as a symbolic head of a country, while someone else holds the real power — is one type of figurehead. If a retiring businesswoman promotes her son to be the new CEO of her company, while putting a different person in charge of running the business, the son is just a figurehead. The word figurehead comes from its original meaning, the figures carved at the front of old sailing ships.

Definitions of figurehead

noun
a leader in name only, without real power or authority

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type of:
leader
a person who rules or guides or inspires others
noun
a person used as a cover for some questionable activity

synonyms: front, front man, nominal head, straw man, strawman

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type of:
beguiler, cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster
someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
noun
figure on the bow of some sailing vessels

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type of:
figure
a model of a bodily form (especially of a person)

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