EXECUTIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does executive mean? 

• EXECUTIVE (noun)
  The noun EXECUTIVE has 3 senses:

1. a person responsible for the administration of a business

2. persons who administer the law

3. someone who manages a government agency or department

  Familiarity information: EXECUTIVE used as a noun is uncommon.

• EXECUTIVE (adjective)
  The adjective EXECUTIVE has 1 sense:

1. having the function of carrying out plans or orders etc.

  Familiarity information: EXECUTIVE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXECUTIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person responsible for the administration of a business

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

executive; executive director

Hypernyms ("executive" is a kind of...):

administrator; decision maker (someone who administers a business)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "executive"):

business executive; corporate executive (an executive in a business corporation)

government minister; minister (a person appointed to a high office in the government)

rainmaker (executive who is very successful in bringing in business to his company or firm)

Surgeon General (the head of the United States Public Health Service)

V.P.; vice president (an executive officer ranking immediately below a president; may serve in the president's place under certain circumstances)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Persons who administer the law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("executive" is a kind of...):

administration; brass; establishment; governance; governing body; organisation; organization (the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "executive"):

Bush administration (the executive under President George W. Bush)

Clinton administration (the executive under President Clinton)

Bush administration (the executive under President George H. W. Bush)

Reagan administration (the executive under President Reagan)

Carter administration (the executive under President Carter)

Holonyms ("executive" is a member of...):

authorities; government; regime (the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who manages a government agency or department

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

administrator; executive

Hypernyms ("executive" is a kind of...):

chief; head; top dog (a person who is in charge)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "executive"):

Secretary General (a person who is a chief administrator (as of the United Nations))

triumvir (one of a group of three sharing public administration or civil authority especially in ancient Rome)

prefect (a chief officer or chief magistrate)

DCI; Director of Central Intelligence (the head of the United States Intelligence Community and director of the Central Intelligence Agency)

commissioner (a government administrator)

Instance hyponyms:

Raffles; Sir Thomas Raffles; Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (British colonial administrator who founded Singapore (1781-1826))

Peter Stuyvesant; Petrus Stuyvesant; Stuyvesant (the last Dutch colonial administrator of New Netherland; in 1664 he was forced to surrender the colony to England (1592-1672))

• EXECUTIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having the function of carrying out plans or orders etc.

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

the executive branch

Pertainym:

execution (the act of accomplishing some aim or executing some order)

Derivation:

execute (put in effect)

execute (carry out a process or program, as on a computer or a machine)

execute (carry out the legalities of)

 Context examples 

Laurent further mentioned that the hypothesis of the study was that the thickness of the cerebral cortex would mediate the relationship between BMI and executive function.

(Obesity Can Affect Kids’ Working Memory, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The tracts implicated in the children's brains also involved executive function, which is involved in self-control.

(Too Much Screen Time Changes Structure of Toddlers' Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It would be lucky for me if I had nothing but the executive part to do.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

They also analysed results from tests of executive function.

(Childhood obesity linked to structural differences in key brain regions, University of Cambridge)

These included domains of cognitive functioning most likely to be affected in preclinical and early stages of dementia (e.g., attention, executive function, processing speed, and subjective memory function).

(Meditation, Music May Help Reverse Early Memory Loss in Adults, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

We read every letter, so Courtney, my executive assistant, instantly showed it to me.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Activities involved in the performance of executive, supervisory, or managerial duties.

(Administrative Activity, NCI Thesaurus)

It developed what little executive ability I possessed, and I was aware of a toughening or hardening which I was undergoing and which could not be anything but wholesome for “Sissy” Van Weyden.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Nurse executives are registered nurses who are instrumental in the design, facilitation, and management of patient care in their respective organizations.

(Nurse Administrator, NCI Thesaurus)

The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions.

(Dementia, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)