chef

chef — noun

1. a person who has trained to prepare and cook meals as a paid job, often leading

1.nounA2
Definition

a person who has trained to prepare and cook meals as a paid job, often leading a kitchen team at a place where food is served to paying customers

Example

The head chef at the Osaka hotel trained a new team of kitchen staff.

head chef + trained + team — workplace collocations

Aiko wants to become a chef and open her own restaurant one day.

Common collocations
  • head chef
  • pastry chef
  • sous chef
  • executive chef
  • chef's knife
  • chef's hat
Synonyms
  • cook

    a more general word; any person who prepares food, not necessarily with formal training or in a commercial setting

  • head chef

    specifically the most senior cook who leads the kitchen team

Grammar Patterns

a + noun

the + noun

noun as title before name

Usage Note

Chef can be used as a title before a person's name (e.g., Chef Yusuf). The word is more specific than 'cook' — it usually refers to someone who has received professional training and works in a commercial kitchen.

Common Mistakes

My grandmother is the best chef at home.
My grandmother is the best cook at home.
A chef works in a professional kitchen; a cook prepares food in any setting, including at home.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Chef and cook both describe people who prepare food, but chef carries stronger connotations of professional training and a commercial setting. A cook may work at home or in a small café without formal qualifications, whereas a chef typically has studied culinary skills and often holds a leadership role such as executive chef or head chef. Head chef refers specifically to the most senior person in a restaurant kitchen — the one who plans menus, manages the team, and checks the quality of every dish. For example, you might say 'The cook at the school cafeteria makes good soup,' but 'The head chef at The Ritz designed a new tasting menu.' Choose cook for general, unlicensed food preparation; choose chef for trained professionals; use head chef when emphasizing the leadership role.

chef ↗cook ↗head chef

Common collocations

Nouns

  • chef's knife
  • chef's uniform
  • chef's hat
  • chef's table

Adverbs

  • professionally trained
  • fully qualified

Phrases

  • head chef
  • sous chef
  • pastry chef
  • executive chef
  • chef de cuisine

Prepositions

  • chef at [restaurant]
  • chef in [city]
  • chef of [hotel]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Chef entered English from French in the early 1800s. The French word chef means 'head' or 'leader', and it comes from the Latin word caput, also meaning 'head'. The original full expression was chef de cuisine, which means 'head of the kitchen'.