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⇱ chairperson - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

chairperson

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UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈtʃɛərpɜːrsən/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈtʃɛrˌpɝsən/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(châr′pûr′sən)

Inflections of 'chairperson' (n): npl: chairpersons

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
chair•per•son /ˈtʃɛrˌpɜrsən/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a person in charge of running a meeting, etc., or the head of a board or department.
chair•per•son•ship, n. [uncountable]
    See chair.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
chair•per•son  (châr′pûr′sən),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a person who presides over a meeting, committee, board, etc.
  2. Educationthe administrative head of a department in a high school, college, or university.
  • chair(man) + -person 1970–75
chair′per′son•ship′, n. 
    Chairperson has, since the 1960s, come to be used widely as an alternative to either chairman or chairwoman. This change has sprung largely from a desire to avoid chairman, which is felt by many to be inappropriate and even sexually discriminatory when applied to a woman. In some organizations, notably academic and, to a lesser extent, governmental, chairperson has been adopted as the official term for anyone who fills the position in question. Some publishers and publications specify the use of chairperson in their style guides.
    Despite such widespread acceptance, some newspapers, press associations, and other news media do not use chairperson at all, usually on the grounds that it is awkward and that chairman is a well-established generic term covering both sexes. Some publications and organizations use the term chair to designate the presiding officer, thus avoiding charges of both sexism and awkwardness:Jim will be chair of the entertainment committee this year, and Jane will be chair next year.Chairperson is standard in all varieties of speech and writing. See also -man, -person, -woman. 
'chairperson' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
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