director general

noun

The highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution. In reference to government, the executive officer below the minister of the department.

OriginFrench directeur général →
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Meanings

noundirector general (plural directors general or director generals or (rare) directors generals)

plural directors general · plural director generals · plural rare directors generals · alternative director-general

  1. The highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution. In reference to government, the executive officer below the minister of the department.

Origin

  1. Frenchdirecteur général
  2. Englishdirector general

A calque of French directeur général, hence the unusual order of adjective following noun.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُدِير عَامّ
  • مُدِير عَامّ (mudīr ʕāmm)executive officer
Bulgarian генера́лен дире́ктор
  • генера́лен дире́ктор (generálen diréktor)executive officer
Chinese Mandarin 總幹事 /总干事
  • 總幹事 /总干事 (zǒnggànshì)executive officer
Czech generální ředitel
  • generální ředitelexecutive officer
Danish generaldirektør
  • generaldirektørexecutive officer
Dutch directeur-generaal
  • directeur-generaalexecutive officer
Finnish pääjohtaja, ylijohtaja
  • pääjohtajaexecutive officer
  • ylijohtajaexecutive officer
French directeur général
  • directeur généralexecutive officer
German Generaldirektor
  • Generaldirektorexecutive officer
Greek γενικός διευθυντής
  • γενικός διευθυντής (genikós diefthyntís)executive officer
Hindi महानिर्देशक, महानिदेशक
  • महानिर्देशक (mahānirdeśak)executive officer
  • महानिदेशक (mahānideśak)executive officer
Hungarian főigazgató, főcsoportfőnök
  • főigazgatóexecutive officer
  • főcsoportfőnökexecutive officer
Italian direttore generale
  • direttore generaleexecutive officer
Japanese 局長
  • 局長 (kyokuchō)executive officer
Korean 국장
  • 국장 (gukjang)executive officer
Malay ketua pengarah
  • ketua pengarahexecutive officer
Norwegian Bokmål generaldirektør
  • generaldirektørexecutive officer
Polish dyrektor generalny
  • dyrektor generalnyexecutive officer
Romanian director general
  • director generalexecutive officer
Russian генера́льный дире́ктор
  • генера́льный дире́ктор (generálʹnyj diréktor)executive officer
Slovak generálny riaditeľ
  • generálny riaditeľexecutive officer
Swedish generaldirektör
  • generaldirektörexecutive officer
Turkish genel müdür
  • genel müdürexecutive officer
Ukrainian генера́льний дире́ктор
  • генера́льний дире́ктор (henerálʹnyj dyréktor)executive officer
Urdu ڈائِریکْٹَر جَنْرَل
  • ڈائِریکْٹَر جَنْرَل (ḍāirekṭar janral)executive officer
Cite this entry
APA

director general. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/director%20general

MLA

“director general.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/director%20general. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “director general,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/director%20general.

Source: director general on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.