director

/dɪˈrɛktər/

/daɪˈrɛktə/

Other forms: directors

A director is a person who is in charge of something important. The advertising director for a large company is the head of the department that places ads in newspapers and on TV.

Businesses have directors, and movies and plays also have directors, who oversee the way the actors deliver their lines and interpret the script. An orchestra's conductor can also be called a "musical director," and much like a film director, she guides the musicians and supervises their performance. The Latin root, dirigere, means "set straight."

Definitions of director

1. noun

   someone who controls resources and expenditures
   synonyms: manager, managing director

   types:

   bank manager

   manager of a branch office of a bank

   district manager

   a manager who supervises the sales activity for a district

   manageress

   a woman manager

   type of:

   administrator, decision maker

   someone who administers a business
2. noun

   someone who supervises the actors and directs the action in the production of a show
   synonyms: theater director, theatre director

   examples:

   Harley Granville-Barker

   English actor and dramatist and critic and director noted for his productions of Shakespearean plays (1877-1946)

   Elia Kazanjoglous

   United States stage and screen director (born in Turkey) and believer in method acting (1909-2003)

   Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky

   Russian actor and theater director who trained his actors to emphasize the psychological motivation of their roles (1863-1938)

   types:

   stage director

   someone who supervises the actors and directs the action in the production of a stage show

   art director

   the director in charge of the artistic features of a theatrical production (costumes and scenery and lighting)

   type of:

   supervisor

   one who supervises or has charge and direction of
3. noun

   the person who directs the making of a film
   synonyms: film director

   examples:

   Ingmar Bergman

   Swedish film director who used heavy symbolism and explored the psychology of the characters (born 1918)

   Luis Bunuel

   Spanish film director (1900-1983)

   Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

   English film director noted for his skill in creating suspense (1899-1980)

   Israel Strassberg

   United States actor and film director (born in Austria) who was a leader in developing method acting in the United States (1901-1982)

   type of:

   film maker, film producer, filmmaker, movie maker

   a producer of motion pictures
4. noun

   the person who leads a musical group
   synonyms: conductor, music director

   examples:

   Leonard Bernstein

   United States conductor and composer (1918-1990)

   Lord Britten of Aldeburgh

   major English composer of the 20th century; noted for his operas (1913-1976)

   Arthur Fiedler

   popular United States conductor (1894-1979)

   Paul Hindemith

   German neoclassical composer and conductor who believed that music should have a social purpose (1895-1963)

   Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky

   United States conductor (born in Russia) who was noted for performing the works of contemporary composers (1874-1951)

   Leonard Constant Lambert

   English composer and conductor (1905-1951)

   Gustav Mahler

   Austrian composer and conductor (1860-1911)

   Eugene Ormandy

   United States conductor (born in Hungary) (1899-1985)

   Seiji Ozawa

   United States conductor (born in Japan in 1935)

   Leopold Antoni Stanislaw Stokowski

   United States conductor (born in Britain) (1882-1977)

   George Szell

   United States conductor (born in Hungary) (1897-1970)

   Arturo Toscanini

   Italian conductor of many orchestras worldwide (1867-1957)

   Bruno Walter

   German conductor (1876-1962)

   Baron Karl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber

   German conductor and composer of romantic operas (1786-1826)

   Sir Henry Joseph Wood

   English conductor (1869-1944)

   types:

   bandleader

   the leader of a dance band

   bandmaster

   the conductor of a band

   drum major

   the leader of a marching band or drum corps

   drum majorette, majorette

   a female drum major

   type of:

   musician

   artist who composes or conducts music as a profession
5. noun

   member of a board of directors
   type of:

   committee member

   a member of a committee