leading man —(also: main man)
1. a person that guides, directs, or leads:
- The leading man in charge of this search had signaled his intention to resign.
2. an actor who plays the leading role:
- Mario was a character actor, but … he suddenly became a leading man in numerous action pictures.
man of light and leading—(usually pl.) a person of intellectual, moral, or spiritual authority:
- When a monarch visits the Court of another nation, men of “light and leading” are usually invited as guests to meet him.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase Old Light men—(hist., also: Old Lights) religious traditionalists who believed the new religious movement (New Lights) threatened established religion:
- There is thus a duality of political outlook among the Presbyterians, with the tide tending to run in favour of the Old Light men.