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I want to describe a player who is not officially the captain of a team but shoulders as much responsibility. I have read the phrase in name only being used when a person holds a title, but doesn't perform or is unable to perform the duties typically associated with it. I would guess that in my case I am looking for a phrase which is opposite of in name only. The person is performing the duties but doesn't officially hold the title.

I searched for the opposite on Google but couldn't find one. Ended up with a similar result from a couple of dictionary searches as well.

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    You want de facto. – Dan Bron May 7 '15 at 20:54
  • π™Ώπš•πšŽπšŠπšœπšŽΒ πšπš˜Β πš—πš˜πšΒ πšžπšœπšŽΒ πšžπšπš•πš’Β πš–πš˜πš—πš˜πšœπš™πšŠπšŒπšŽΒ πšŒπš˜πšπšŽΒ πšœπš™πšŠπš—πšœΒ πšπš˜πš›Β πšŽπš–πš™πš‘πšŠπšœπš’πšœ:Β πšžπšœπšŽΒ πš’πšπšŠπš•πš’πšŒπšœ. – tchrist♦ May 8 '15 at 0:37
  • @DanBron That would be a good answer. – DJClayworth May 8 '15 at 1:20
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The person is performing the duties but doesn't officially hold the title.

Jerry is the CEO in name only.

Csarina is effectively the CEO:

1.1 Actually but not officially or explicitly:

ODO

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I think Scot's answer is perhaps more accurate, but for my exact sentence I ended up using:

in all but name

It applies to conditions as well and is not limited to describing a person. Source: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+all+but+name

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    I consider that an excellent choice, @Shashank. In all but name is the opposite of in name only. – ScotM May 8 '15 at 15:30

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