bigwig
noun/ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/
Etymology First arose in the 1730s, from big + wig. Formerly, English men of authority (such as judges and Members of Parliament) wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.
1
Informal A person of importance in a group or organization.
- The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.
- […] more innocently, and no doubt profitably, than if he had dined at a big-wig's board or bemused himself with smoke and beer among his brethren of the pen.1891, Grace L. Keith Johnston, The Halletts: A Country Town Chronicle, volume 3, page 34:
1 more example
- Before her hay-day, she attended many derbys under her dad's celebrity where she'd hobnob with the bigwigs in Millionaire's Row.2016 May 5, “Reality star Bethenny Frankel talks hats, hangovers and her Kentucky Derby party at Empire City Casino”, in New York Daily News:
- Derived terms
- bigwiggery, bigwigism