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Green’s Dictionary of Slang

honcho n.

[Jap. han’cho, group leader; imported to the West by US forces in Korea]

1. (orig. US) a leader, employer, boss, the head person of any job or other situation.

1945		Coshocton (OH) Trib. 1 Sept. [pic. caption] n.p.: In the best Japanese tradition, a prisoner of war on Guam greets Lt. Harold F. Gannon of Brooklyn, commandant of the camp, with a so-humble bend from the waist, accompanied, no doubt, by the traditional hiss of politely indrawn breath. This prisoner is the ‘honcho,’ or group headman, in the POW stockade.
1957		H.S. Thompson letter 17 Oct. in Proud Highway (1997) 68: I talked to one of the ‘discharge honchos’ today.
1969		D. Pendleton Executioner (1973) 40: That’s a helluva bitter mouthful for a Mafia honcho.
c.1972		161 Aus. Army Helicopter Songbook n.p.: A Dining In night at Oakey convened / All of the honchos appeared on the scene.
1978		J. Krantz Scruples 9: [a woman] You’ve never been head honcho on an Award show before.
1987		T. Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities 371: You Wall Street honchos really are gamblers!
1998		Hip-Hop Connection Dec. 12: Mark Jones, the head honcho of Wall of Sound.
2003		Bug (Aus.) Sept. 🌐 I reckon he has what it takes to be the head honcho of our great nation.
2007		Indep. 16 May 30/6: Who’s the chief honcho in this Christianity lark?
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] Dedtective Inspector Duval, the head honcho of Homicide.
2020		C. Hiaasen Squeeze Me 246: ‘Deirdre knows the head honcho at Homeland Security’.

2. (US) a fellow man.

1961		L. McMurtry Horseman, Pass By (1997) 82: I’m going up to Burk to the rodeo. You honchos wanta go?
1973		C. Gaines Stay Hungry 143: There are a few bad honchos around but none of them started out that way.
2010		Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 9 Jan. 🌐 I tend to use that word juge a bit, but regret that it and zhoozie are strictly moffoise slang and bounce blankly off hetero honchos.

3. a well-built, attractive man.

1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 191: A hunky honcho, he wore his best starched and pressed prison blues.
1999		Guardian 13 July 18: An ad in Playboy magazine [...] featured three hairy honchos.