Word.ws English Dictionary

figureheads

figureheads is the plural of figurehead.

figureheads is the third-person singular simple present indicative of figurehead.

Meaning of figurehead

Noun

figurehead (plural figureheads)

  1. A carved figure on the prow of a sailing ship.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) Someone in a nominal position of leadership who has little to no actual power.
    • Evidently he did not mean to be a mere figurehead, but to carry on the old tradition of Wilsthorpe's; and that was considered to be a good thing in itself and an augury for future prosperity.1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 2, in Well Tackled!
  3. (figuratively, obsolete, slang) A person's face.
    • HATCHET. Bring up, I say, or I'll spoil your figurehead. [Lifting his cudgel]1829, Douglas Jerrold, Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs

See all 4 meanings of figurehead

Questions about figureheads

What is figureheads the plural of?
Figureheads is the plural of figurehead.

Words near figureheads in the dictionary

  1. figured up
  2. figurehead
  3. figureheaded
  4. figureheading
  5. figureheadless
  6. figureheads
  7. figureheadship
  8. figureless
  9. figurelessness
  10. figurer
  11. figurers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: figureheads (page history and authors); figurehead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “figureheads.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/figureheads. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.