attorney general

noun

plural attorneys general or attorney generals

: the chief law officer of a nation or state who represents the government in litigation and serves as its principal legal adviser

Examples of attorney general in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Barr was attorney general when Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in 2019, a death that was later deemed a suicide. —Lauren Green, The Washington Examiner, 17 Sep. 2025

Paxton served more than a decade in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate before his election as state attorney general in 2014. —Lauren McGaughy, ProPublica, 17 Sep. 2025

Uthmeier, formerly DeSantis’s chief of staff, was appointed as attorney general by the governor in February. —Max Rego, The Hill, 16 Sep. 2025

The office did acknowledge in a statement that the attorney general traveled to the island with a Massachusetts State Police trooper. —Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald, 14 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1585, in the meaning defined above

Video

Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

Kids Definition

attorney general

noun

plural attorneys general or attorney generals

: the chief law officer of a nation or state who represents the government in legal matters

Legal Definition

attorney general

noun

plural attorneys general or attorney generals

: the chief law officer of a nation or state who represents the government in litigation and serves as its principal legal advisor