dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

a

: the head of the chapter of a collegiate or cathedral church

b

: a Roman Catholic priest who supervises one district of a diocese

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling and disciplining students

3

: doyen sense 1

dean intransitive verb

deanship

ˈdēn-ˌship 

noun

Synonyms of dean

• elder
• veteran
• nestor
• doyen
• elder statesman
• éminence grise
• senior

Examples of dean in a Sentence

She's the dean of the university's business school.

the dean of liberal arts

Recent Examples on the Web

Darlene Dulin, dean of health, walked the students through preparing prescriptions. —Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026

The Greens strive to mirror the success of Mamdani's progressive campaign in New York City, according to Tony Travers, associate dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. —USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026

Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi and Phi Delta Theta are all facing some level of disciplinary action stemming from allegations of hazing, according to letters sent by the dean of students and obtained by Fox News Digital. —Julia Bonavita , Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 28 Apr. 2026

Nestler is the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, chief scientific officer and executive vice president of the Mount Sinai Health System, and a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry. —Eric J. Nestler, STAT, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deen, from Anglo-French deen, deien, from Late Latin decanus chief of ten, from Greek dekanos, from deka ten — more at ten

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing dean

• dean's list
• rural dean
• sub-dean

Rhymes for dean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• chine
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• jean
• keen

Kids Definition

dean

noun

ˈdēn 

1

: the head of the chapter of a cathedral church

2

a

: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university

b

: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling or disciplining students

3

: the senior member of a group

the dean of the diplomatic corps

deanship

-ˌship 

noun

Biographical Definition

Dean

biographical name

ˈdēn 

Sir Patrick 1909–1994 British diplomat