oxford dictionaries

lead¦er

The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country: the leader of a protest group. A natural leader

 

[SYNONYMS]

-chief, head, principal, boss; commander, captain; figurehead, controller, superior, kingpin, headman, mover and shaker; chairman, chairwoman, chairperson, chair, convener, moderator; director, managing director, MD, manager, superintendent, supervisor, overseer, administrator, employer, master, mistress, foreman; president, premier, governor;

ruler, monarch, king, queen, sovereign, emperor, tsar, prince, princess, lord, lord and master; elder, patriarch; guru, mentor, authority informal: boss man, skipper, gaffer, guv'nor, top dog, number one, big cheese, big noise, bigwig, big shot North American informalhoncho, Mister Big, numero uno, sachem, padrone

 

[ANTONYMS] follower, supporter

 

- pioneer, front runner, innovator, trailblazer, pathfinder, groundbreaker, trendsetter, leading light, guiding light, torch-bearer, pacemaker, originator, initiator, developer, discoverer, founder, architect formal: neoteric