Kingpin
Kingpin noun - One of high position or importance within a group.
Usage example: a police sting that nabbed several kingpins of the city's drug trade
Subordinate is an antonym for kingpin.
Subordinate
Subordinate noun - One who is of lower rank and typically under the authority of another.
Usage example: subordinates do most of the actual creation of the famous designer's clothing designs
Kingpin is an antonym for subordinate.
Both words in one sentence
- In "To Tell the Truth", while on a late night shopping run, Danny Reagan witnesses a drug kingpin execute the brother of a subordinate to send a message.
Source: Jury and Witness Tampering -
One discretion shot in particular stands out, though, when the Kingpin executes an insubordinate...subordinate by crushing his head between his massive hands.
Source: Gory Discretion Shot - Kick the Dog: To intimidate a subordinate for his failure, Kingpin takes the guy's $4,000 watch (a big status symbol) and crushes it with his bare hand.
Source: Fan Fic / Ultimate Sleepwalker
Cite this Source
Subordinate and Kingpin. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/kingpin/subordinate
Kingpin & Subordinate. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/kingpin/subordinate>.
Subordinate or Kingpin. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/kingpin/subordinate.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "kingpin" and "subordinate" have occurred on timeline