top dog
Alpha of pack
Top dog is the dominant person or group in a situation—the one with the most power, status, or success.
The phrase comes from dogfighting, where the winning dog ends up on top.
She's been top dog in the department for years.
After the merger, the new CEO became top dog.
Workplace superior
commander · director · executive · manager · supervisor · kingpin · big cheese · head honcho
First Greek letter
- dominantHaving superior influence
- controllingExerting authority over others
- superiorHigher in rank
- rulingFormal legal determination
reigning · commanding · authoritative · powerful · influential · overbearing · assertive · in charge
Top competitor, or advocate
- winnerOne who prevails
- bestHighest in quality
- finestSuperlative in quality
- greatestSurpassing all others
premier · foremost · leading · unrivaled · unbeatable · cream of the crop · pick of the litter · first place
One who competes against
- challengerOne competing against incumbent
- competitorOne striving against others
- contenderOne competing seriously
- opponentOne who contends against
defending champion · title holder · front-runner · favorite · ranking · standings · knockout · victor
boss
Workplace superior
captain · commander · director · executive · manager · supervisor · kingpin · big cheese · head honcho · number one
alpha
First Greek letter
- dominantHaving superior influence
- controllingExerting authority over others
- superiorHigher in rank
ruling · reigning · commanding · authoritative · powerful · influential · overbearing · assertive · in charge · calling the shots
champion
Top competitor, or advocate
greatest · premier · foremost · leading · unrivaled · unbeatable · cream of the crop · pick of the litter · first place · gold medalist
rival
One who competes against
- challengerOne competing against incumbent
- competitorOne striving against others
- contenderOne competing seriously
opponent · defending champion · title holder · front-runner · favorite · ranking · standings · knockout · victor · conqueror
- Leadership idiomslead by example, take the reins, at the helm, call the shots, take charge
- animal expressionscuriosity killed cat, horse sense, wild goose chase, chickens come home, don't count chickens
- advantagesedge, leverage, upper hand, leg up, head start
- bigwigsbigwig, big shot, big wig, VIP, big kahuna
- bossesboss, bossman, manager, supervisor, foreman
- Braggingbrag, gloat, show off, flex, swagger
top dogunderdog
Presumed loser beforehand
bottom dog · underling · subordinate · small fry · peon
top dogunderdog
Presumed loser beforehand
loser · last place · bottom of the barrel · doormat · pushover
dog, dogs, dogged, topped, doggy, topping, underdog, topmost, topper