From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhead of stateˌhead of ˈstate noun (plural heads of state) [countable] PGthe main representative of a country, such as a queen, king, or president, who may not have duties in the country’s government
Examples from the Corpus
head of state• Kremlin holds the reins, page 7 Non-Communist becomes acting head of state Krenz falls as unrest fears grow.• The party chairman is also head of state.• Under the current system the President was both head of state and head of government.• In practice he acts as a formal head of state.• The President, who is head of state, is elected by the Great Hural.• But the Bulgars early this month elected as their new head of state Petar Stoyanov, an anti-communist opposition leader. 