executive director vs executive

executive director and executive both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
executive director	Yes	No	No	No
executive	Yes	Yes	No	No

As nouns, executive director and executive are synonyms defined as:

executive director and executive: a person responsible for the administration of a business

executive director (noun)	executive (noun)
a person responsible for the administration of a business	persons who administer the law
	a person responsible for the administration of a business
	someone who manages a government agency or department

executive director (adjective)	executive (adjective)
	having the function of carrying out plans or orders etc.