president

/ˈprezɪdənt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈprezɪdənt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈpre-zə-dənt ˈprez-dənt, ˈpre-zə-ˌdent in rapid speech ˈpre-zᵊnt/ (ame, mw)

president — noun

  • presidentsingular
  • presidentsplural

1. The elected leader of a country that does not have a king or queen — the person

1.名詞A2
釋義

The elected leader of a country that does not have a king or queen — the person who runs the government in countries such as the US, France, or South Korea.

例句

After winning the election, the new president promised to improve healthcare for all citizens.

Bao shook hands with the president during the official visit to the capital.

collocation: shake hands with the president

同義詞
  • head of state

    broader term that includes presidents, kings, queens, and emperors; not specific to elected leaders

  • chief executive

    formal term focusing on the administrative role; more common in legal or political writing

  • leader

    more general term; does not specify the republican system and can apply to any group or country

用法筆記

Often used with a capital letter when it appears as a title before a person's name, e.g. 'President Park'. Can also be used as a form of address: 'Thank you, Mr. President.' This sense only refers to leaders of republics, not to kings, queens, or prime ministers in parliamentary systems with a separate head of state.

常見錯誤

❌The president of the United Kingdom gave a speech.
✅The prime minister of the United Kingdom gave a speech.
💡The UK has a king as head of state, so the government leader is called the prime minister, not the president.
❌President Chen is a very good president.
✅President Chen is a very good leader.
💡Avoid repeating 'president' right after using it as a title; use a different word.

2. The person with the top role in a company, university, club, or other group, who

2.名詞B1
釋義

The person with the top role in a company, university, club, or other group, who is responsible for making important decisions and guiding its direction.

例句

Caio was promoted to company president after leading the sales team for five years.

collocation: president of a company

The university president met with students to discuss the new library project.

collocation: university president

同義詞
  • chief executive officer

    more formal and specific to corporations; often abbreviated as CEO; in many companies the CEO is the top role while president may be second in command

  • chairperson

    the person who leads the board of directors; in some organizations this is a separate role from the president

  • director

    a more general term; can refer to a manager rather than the top leader

反義詞
  • employee

    a person who works for an organization but does not hold the top leadership role

  • member

    a person who belongs to a club or group but is not its leader

用法筆記

In the US, the title 'president' is often used for the head of a company. In the UK and many other countries, terms like 'managing director' or 'chief executive officer (CEO)' are more common for commercial organizations. For universities, 'president' is the standard term in the US, while 'vice-chancellor' is more common in the UK.

常見錯誤

❌The president of the company is my boss's boss.' (correct but vague)
✅The president of the company approved my proposal this morning.
💡Add a specific action to make the sentence meaningful and show the role in context.