leading man

noun

Synonyms of leading mannext
: an actor who plays the leading male role

Examples of leading man in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Following years of juggling acting and political work, supporting the likes of President Obama and NYC Mayor Mamdani, Kal Penn is back in leading man mode. — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026 Yet with Brunson as their leading man, the Knicks won't have the same aura as Jordan's Bulls or O'Neal's Lakers. — ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026 But to get there, the directors needed to find their perfect leading men. — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026 Douglas, Zemeckis, and Turner scrambled to shoot some new material that fleshed out the two main characters and added some comedy, and the result was Zemeckis’ first hit as a director and Douglas’ as a leading man. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for leading man

Word History

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of leading man was in 1827

Rhymes for leading man

See All Rhymes for leading man

Browse Nearby Words

leadingly
leading man
leading mark
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Leading man.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leading%20man. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

leading man

noun
: an actor who plays the leading male role in a play or movie

More from Merriam-Webster on leading man

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for leading man

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All