bigwig

• big wig, big-wig

First arose in the 1730s, from big +‎ wig. Formerly, English men of authority wore wigs. Bigwig plays on the idea that higher authority is denoted by a larger wig.

• enPR: bĭgʹwĭg, IPA^(key): /ˈbɪɡ.wɪɡ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Rhymes: -ɪɡ

bigwig (plural bigwigs)

1. (humorous) A person of importance to a group or organization.

   Synonyms: big cheese, VIP; see also Thesaurus:important person

   The company bigwig is gathering his staff together for a meeting today.

   • 1891, Grace L. Keith Johnston, The Halletts: A Country Town Chronicle, volume 3, page 34:

     […] more innocently, and no doubt profitably, than if he had dined at a big-wig's board or bemused himself with smoke and beer among his brethren of the pen.

   • 2016 May 5, “Reality star Bethenny Frankel talks hats, hangovers and her Kentucky Derby party at Empire City Casino”, in New York Daily News:

     Before her hay-day, she attended many derbys under her dad's celebrity where she'd hobnob with the bigwigs in Millionaire's Row.