noun
Common
CEO
CEO (noun) means Chief Executive Officer: the person with overall responsibility for running a company. Example: “The CEO announced record profits at the shareholder meeting.”
noun
1
Chief Executive Officer: the person with overall responsibility for running a company.
"Stack ranking had come into fashion after GE CEO Jack Welch used a similar system, called rank-and-yank, to turn around that company in the 1980s and 1990s."
— Nicholas Carlson, The Day Marissa Mayer's Honeymoon At Yahoo Ended (2015)
"The CEO announced record profits at the shareholder meeting."
"Swisher then looked back at a number of tech CEOs booked for the conference in the past — from Steve Jobs to Elon Musk — and relayed that “we never promised anything or gave them any heads up. We’re journalists FFS.”"
— Benjamin Lindsay, Kara Swisher Defends Ex-Twitter Exec Upstaging CEO Linda Yaccarino (2023)
"CEOs who once made 50 times the average worker’s salary made more than 500 times as much in 2001."
— Evan Thomas, Why It’s Time to Worry (2010)
How to use CEO
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe top executive who runs a company day to day, reporting to the board.
Common pairings
company CEO
CEO of the firm
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Word forms
- Third person singular
- CEOs
- Past tense
- CEOed
Fill the gap
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The _____ announced record profits at the shareholder meeting.
Synonyms
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chief executive
managing director
company head
top executive
boss
head honcho
chief executive officer
chief operating officer
Related words
Rhymes for CEO
See all rhymes for CEO →Frequently asked questions
What does “CEO” mean?
The word “CEO” means chief Executive Officer: the person with overall responsibility for running a company. In plain terms, the top executive who runs a company day to day, reporting to the board.
How do you use “CEO” in a sentence?
Here is “CEO” used in a sentence: “The CEO announced record profits at the shareholder meeting.”
What part of speech is “CEO”?
“CEO” is a noun.
Is “CEO” a common word?
“CEO” is a fairly common word in modern English.
What does CEO stand for?
CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. It is the title given to the highest-ranking executive in a company, the person with overall responsibility for running the business, setting its strategy, and answering to the board of directors. The initials are usually said letter by letter, as C-E-O, rather than as a single word.
What is the difference between a CEO and a founder?
A founder is the person who started the company, a fact of history that never changes. A CEO is whoever currently holds the top leadership role, responsible for running it day to day. Often the founder is also the first CEO, but a company can hire an outside CEO while the founder steps back.
What is the difference between a CEO and a president?
In many companies the CEO is the highest authority, setting overall strategy and answering to the board, while the president ranks just below and oversees day-to-day operations. In smaller firms one person may hold both titles. The exact split of duties varies, but the CEO usually outranks the president.
What does a CEO actually do?
A CEO sets the company's overall direction, makes major strategic decisions, and takes ultimate responsibility for its success or failure. They lead the senior management team, represent the company to investors and the public, and report to the board of directors. The role is about steering the whole business rather than managing one department.
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