ringleader

See also: ring leader

English

Etymology

ring +‎ leader

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪŋˌliːdəɹ/

Noun

ringleader (plural ringleaders)

1. A leader of a group of people, especially an unofficial group.
2. A person who starts and leads a disturbance (such as a riot), a conspiracy, or a criminal gang.

   The police arrested the ringleaders of the smuggling operation.

   • 1590, William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part 2:

     A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent, / Under the countenance and confederacy / Of Lady Eleanor, the protector's wife, / The ringleader and head of all this rout, / Have practis'd dangerously against your state...

Translations

leader of a group of people, especially an unofficial group

• Basque: taldeburu, buruzagi (eu), gidari
• German: Anführer (de) m, Anführerin (de) f
• Russian: вожа́к (ru) m (vožák), глава́рь (ru) m (glavárʹ)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: cabecilla m or f
• Tagalog: malahakan

person who starts and leads a disturbance, a conspiracy, or a criminal gang

• Dutch: raddraaier (nl) m
• German: Rädelsführer (de) m, Rädelsführerin (de) f
• Japanese: 首謀者
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: concitor m
• Manx: ard-veereiltagh m
• Swedish: anstiftare c