People and roles

Synonyms for captain

The synonym for captain recorded in this bank is chieftain, in the sense "the leader of a group of people". Below it sits the sentence that fixes that meaning, the same sentence with the swap made, and the words that only look close.

1 synonym · Tier 3, Ridgeline · 1 sense · noun · a wrong tile in 2 puzzles

The synonym for captain

chieftainnoun, in the sense "the leader of a group of people"

That is the whole set. The bank holds one audited synonym per sense of a word, and captain carries one sense so far.

The sensenounTier 3, RidgelinePeople and roles

the leader of a group of people

A captain of industry.

The sentence the game shows, and the only thing that settles which meaning is meant.

The true synonym

chieftain

Same sentence, swapped: A chieftain of industry.

Close but different

These three are the other tiles for this sense. Each is a real word, and none of them can stand where captain stands in the sentence above.

hero
model
guide

Where captain turns up in the game

captain is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 3, Ridgeline. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in two other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzles where captain is the trap

crewnoun, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is hands, in the sense "a group of people who work together to operate a ship, aircraft, or vehicle", so captain is there to be ruled out.
masternoun, Tier 2, Treeline. The answer there is maestro, in the sense "an artist of consummate skill", and captain is on the board beside it.

Play captain

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so captain reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. Nothing on it is written while the page is built.

Read nextThe whole library →

Closest first: other people and roles words at Ridgeline, then the same tier across the rest of the library.

avatarnounincarnationa new personification of a familiar ideaRidgelineHas a reason line bearernounholderthe person who is in possession of a check or note or bond or document of title that is endorsed to them or to whoever holds itRidgeline bossyadjectivedominatingoffensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted powerRidgeline braveadjectiveintrepidshowing courage in the face of dangerRidgelineHas a reason line umpirenounarbitersomeone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issueHigh CampHas a reason line uncivilizedadjectivewildwithout civilizing influencesRidgeline unsophisticatedadjectivehickawkwardly simple and provincialHigh Camp2 sensesHas a reason line chroniclenounannalsa factual record of events in the order they happenedRidgelineHas a reason line

Every word is an answer somewhere and a trap somewhere else

captain is an answer in 1 puzzle and a wrong tile in 2. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.

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