political boss
1
6.0
- noun
- /pəˈlɪtɪkəl bɔs/
:
jefe político
- At the time of his appointment, Ryan, a protégé of the notorious Bronx political boss Edward J. Flynn, was the Bronx's Chief Assistant District Attorney.
Examples
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After years of influence, the political boss managed to sway the election results in his favor.
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I did not doubt that he intended to be the political boss of Illinois, and then who knew?
Fiction book (1992) -
Mind you, he's just a worker with gumption enough to fight the big political boss.
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And at a late hour yesterday, the Grand Jury indicted Dan Reynolds, state political boss, on a charge of peonage.
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Mason said, "the political bosses in City Hall enacted an illegal ordinance to restrict my donations to the Move Forward team."
Blog text (33) -
Second, progressivism was a movement of political reform at the national level and an attempt by the middle class and their intellectual allies to reclaim the cities from the political bosses and the urban machines.
Academic text (1993) -
Such a measure would, it was hoped, discourage political bosses from rounding up immigrants and herding them to court to secure their naturalization papers and thereafter their votes.
Academic text (2001) -
The political boss of the city faced accusations of manipulating appointments for personal gain.
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Known for his behind-the-scenes control, the political boss dictated many of the party's major decisions.
Synonyms
20
8.9
A person in charge of a team or project
9
6.3
A person who is in charge of a company or group
7
8.2
A person who uses strong influence behind the scenes to help others gain power
4
6.5
A powerful political leader who controls votes and chooses party jobs behind the scenes
2
7.9
A person who uses connections to influence votes or decisions
A person in politics who serves a powerful party group for personal gain
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally clear — 'political' + 'boss' naturally yields 'a boss in politics,' so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely infer it refers to a political leader. However, the specific connotations of a 'political boss' as a behind-the-scenes power broker who controls votes and patronage are culturally and pragmatically specialized and not fully predictable from the constituents alone.
Etymology
The term political boss comes from old city leaders who acted like a local boss and used the political system to give jobs and help people in return for votes. So political boss now means 'a powerful leader who controls votes' and makes decisions 'behind the scenes'.